Risk Factors of Kawakami et al for Blood Transfusion in a Patient Undergoing Curative Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer

Patient selection: curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer

Risk factors with greater risk from multivariate analysis:

(1) preoperative hemoglobin < 11.0 g/dL (OR 4.3)

(2) major postoperative complication (OR 8.5)

Risk factors with lesser risk from multivariate analysis:

(1) preoperative serum albumin < 3.5 g/dL (OR 1.9)

(2) total gastrectomy (OR 1.7)

(3) open surgery (vs minimally invasive, OR 1.9)

Blood transfusion was associated with a small negative impact on overall survival (OR 1.3) but many of the risk factors for transfusion are associated with a worse survival.