Society guideline links: Transfusion and patient blood management

Introduction — 

This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.

The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.

Links to related guidelines are provided separately. (See "Society guideline links: COVID-19 – Transfusion (including convalescent plasma)".)

International

●AABB: International guidelines on red blood cell transfusion (2023)

●AABB: Clinical practice guideline on platelet transfusion (2015)

●World Health Organization (WHO): Blood donor selection – Guidelines on assessing donor suitability for blood donation (2012)

●AABB: Evidence-based practice guidelines for plasma transfusion (2010)

●WHO: Recommendations on screening donated blood for transfusion-transmissible infections (2009)

Canada

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Don't routinely transfuse fresh frozen plasma, vitamin K, or platelets to reverse abnormal tests of coagulation in patients with cirrhosis prior to abdominal paracentesis, endoscopic variceal band ligation, or any other minor invasive procedures (2024)

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Don't routinely transfuse red blood cells in hemodynamically stable ICU patients with a hemoglobin concentration greater than 70 g/L (a threshold of 80 g/L may be considered for patients undergoing cardiac or orthopedic surgery and those with active cardiovascular disease) (2024)

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Don't transfuse red blood cells for arbitrary hemoglobin or hematocrit thresholds in the absence of symptoms, active coronary disease, heart failure, or stroke (2024)

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Don't transfuse patients based solely on an arbitrary hemoglobin threshold (2023)

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Canadian Obstetrics and Pediatric Transfusion Network (COPTN)/Canadian Society for Transfusion Medicine (CSTM) – Four tests and treatments to questions in perinatal transfusion medicine (2023)

●Choosing Wisely Canada: CSTM – Ten tests and treatments to question in transfusion medicine (2023)

●National Advisory Committee on Blood and Blood Products (NAC): Statement on perioperative autologous and matched donations (2018, updated 2023)

●NAC and Comité consultatif national de médecine transfusionnelle (CCNMT): Recommendations for use of irradiated blood components in Canada (2017, updated 2023)

●NAC: Position paper on utilization and inventory management of Group O Rh(D)-negative red cells (2016, revised 2022)

●Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS): Position statement on red blood cell transfusion in newborn infants (2014, reaffirmed 2020)

●NAC: Education document for transfusion and cytomegalovirus in the Canadian blood system (2017)

United States

●American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA)/American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP)/National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP)/Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI): Guideline for the management of patients with acute coronary syndromes (2025)

●American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST): Clinical practice guideline transfusion of fresh frozen plasma and platelets in critically ill adults (2025)

●CHEST: Clinical practice guideline on red blood cell transfusion in critically ill adults (2024)

●Children's Oncology Group (COG): Guidance on platelet transfusion for patients with cancer (2021)

●Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS)/Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA)/American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology (AmSECT)/Society for the Advancement of Blood Management (SABM): Clinical practice guidelines on patient blood management, update (2021)

●American Society of Hematology (ASH): Guidelines for sickle cell disease – Transfusion support (2020)

●American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA): Practice guidelines for perioperative blood management (2015)

●Eastern Association for Surgery of Trauma (EAST) and Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM): Clinical practice guideline on red blood cell transfusion in adult trauma and critical care (2009)

Europe

●European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS)/European Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (EACTAIC)/European Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion (EBCP): Guidelines on patient blood management in adult cardiac surgery, update (2024)

●European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and HealthCare (EDQM): Guide to the preparation, use, and quality assurance of blood components, 21st edition (2023)

●European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC): Guidelines for management of severe peri-operative bleeding, 2022 second update (published 2023)

●European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM): A clinical practice guideline for transfusion strategies in bleeding critically ill adults (2021)

●ESICM: A clinical practice guideline for transfusion strategies in non-bleeding critically ill adults (2020)

United Kingdom

●Joint United Kingdom (UK) Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC): Guidelines for the blood transfusion services in the UK

●British Society for Haematology (BSH): Guidelines for the specification, implementation, and management of IT systems in hospital transfusion laboratories (2024)

●BSH: Guidelines on red cell transfusion in sickle cell disease – Part I: Principles and laboratory aspects (2016, reviewed 2024)

●BSH: Guidelines on red cell transfusion in sickle cell disease – Part II: Indications for transfusion (2016, updated 2024)

●BSH: Guideline on identification and management of preoperative anaemia in adults, update (2024)

●BSH: Guideline on the investigation and management of acute transfusion reactions (2023)

●BSH: Guidelines on the spectrum of fresh frozen plasma and cryoprecipitate products (2018, updated 2023)

●BSH: Guideline for haematological management of major haemorrhage (2022)

●BSH: Guidelines for the use of platelet transfusions (2016, reviewed 2022)

●BSH: Guidelines on the use of irradiated blood components (2020)

●BSH: Guidelines on transfusion for fetuses, neonates, and older children (2016, updated 2020)

●BSH: Guidelines for pre-transfusion compatibility procedures in blood transfusion laboratories (2012, updated 2017)

●BSH: Guideline on the administration of blood components (2017)

●National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): Quality standard on blood transfusion (2016)

●BSH: Guideline on the clinical use of apheresis procedures (2015)

●NICE: Guideline on blood transfusion (2015)

●BSH: Guidelines for validation and qualification, including change control, for hospital transfusion laboratories (2012, updated 2013)

●NICE: Interventional procedures guidance on intraoperative red blood cell salvage during radical prostatectomy or radical cystectomy (2008)

●NICE: Interventional procedures guidance on intraoperative blood cell salvage in obstetrics (2005)

India

●National Neonatology Forum (NNF): Clinical practice guidelines on use of blood components in newborns (2020)

Australia–New Zealand

●National Blood Authority (NBA): Patient blood management guidelines (2024)

●Choosing Wisely Australia: Avoid administering packed red blood cells (blood transfusion) to a young healthy patient with a haemoglobin of ≥70 g/L who does not have on-going blood loss, unless the patient is symptomatic or haemodynamically unstable (2017)

●Choosing Wisely Australia: Don't transfuse more units of blood than absolutely necessary, noting that many hospitals have developed policies on indications for transfusion with a view to minimization (2016)

●Choosing Wisely Australia: Transfuse red cells for anaemia only if the haemoglobin concentration is less than 70 gm/L or if the patient is haemodynamically unstable or has significant cardiovascular or respiratory comorbidity (2016)

Japan

●[In Japanese] Japan Society of Transfusion Medicine and Cell Therapy (JSTMCT): Guidelines