TRAIN
Transfusion Requirements in Acute Brain Injury
Patient / Population Intervention / Exposure Comparison Outcome
In 820 patients with acute brain injury, a liberal transfusion threshold (Hb 9 g/dL) reduced unfavourable neurologic outcome at 180 days versus restrictive (Hb 7 g/dL).
N
820
Design
Multicentre pragmatic open-label RCT, 72 ICUs across 22 countries
Endpoint
Unfavourable neurologic outcome (GOS-E 1–5, i.e. ≤5) at 180 days
Relevance
2
Result62.6% vs 72.6%.
Taccone FS, et al. JAMA. 2024;332(19):1623-1633. 10.1001/jama.2024.20424
Discussion & critique
Use a higher threshold (Hb 9) in TBI/SAH/ICH; the brain tolerates anaemia poorly.