Predictors and variation in preoperative anaemia: A quality metric performance review.

Preoperative anaemia (haemoglobin <12 g/dL) is a risk factor for adverse perioperative outcomes following gynaecological surgery, including an increased risk of blood transfusions, surgical site infections, prolonged hospital stay and hospital readmission.[1] Clinical practice guidelines have also identified preoperative anaemia as a quality metric impacting patient safety.[[2]] It is imperative that institutions continuously assess performance around this quality indicator and use findings to inform and target quality improvement initiatives. Patient, case and surgeon characteristics for patients with and without anaemia were reported descriptively and bivariate comparisons between the groups were completed. Patients with abnormal uterine bleeding and larger uteri were most likely to have preoperative anaemia, as were patients who had surgery at community sites and/or with surgeons in practice the longest. [Extracted from the article]