Restrictive vs liberal transfusion for upper gastrointestinal bleeding: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

AIM: To compare the outcome of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) between patients receiving restrictive and liberal transfusion. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were employed to identify all relevant randomized controlled trials regarding the outcome of UGIB after restrictive or liberal transfusion. Primary outcomes were death and rebleeding. Secondary outcomes were length of hospitalization, amount of blood transfused, and hematocrit and hemoglobin at discharge or after expansion. RESULTS: Overall, 4 papers were included in this meta-analysis. The incidence of death was significantly lower in patients receiving restrictive transfusion than those receiving liberal transfusion (OR: 0.52, 95%CI: 0.31-0.87, P = 0.01). The incidence of rebleeding was lower in patients receiving restrictive transfusion than those receiving liberal transfusion, but this difference did not reach any statistical significance (OR: 0.26, 95%CI: 0.03-2.10, P = 0.21). Compared with those receiving liberal transfusion, patients receiving restrictive transfusion had a significantly shorter length of hospitalization (standard mean difference: -0.17, 95%CI: -0.30-0.04, P = 0.009) and a significantly smaller amount of blood transfused (standard mean difference: -0.74, 95%CI: -1.15-0.32, P = 0.0005) with a lower hematocrit and hemoglobin level at discharge or after expansion. CONCLUSION: Restrictive transfusion should be employed in patients with UGIB. (C) 2013 Baishideng. All rights reserved.