Thursday December 14, 2006
Phlebotomy in ICUs


Q: How much blood a patient on average loose via phlebotomy per week of ICU stay ?



Answer: 500 cc (about 1 unit of whole blood) per week

Phlebotomy (blood draws) is the major or probably the # 1 cause of anemia in ICUs. In very anemic patients, if blood workup is necessary it would be advisible to use pediatric tubes except for blood cultures where 10-20 cc of blood draw is required. As it was given as pearl earlier on this site that with each 100 ml of blood draws, Hb drop by 0.7 g/dL. Best practice would be to avoid unnecessary blood workup.


See related commentary: Transfusion Practice in the ICU, When Will We Apply the Evidence?, Andrew F. Shorr, MD, MPH and William L. Jackson, MD, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC (Chest. 2005;127:702-705)



Related previous Pearl: ICU anemia score