Medicine
Transfusion thresholds in acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding
Quick fact
In acute upper GI bleeding, a restrictive transfusion strategy—only giving blood when hemoglobin drops below 7 g/dL—reduces death and rebleeding compared to a liberal strategy that keeps hemoglobin above 9 g/dL.
Why this is interesting
When a patient is bleeding from the stomach, giving them blood seems like the obvious lifesaving move. But what if giving blood could make them bleed more?