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Haematology (incl blood transfusion)
Protocol
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses comparing mortality in restrictive and liberal haemoglobin thresholds for red cell transfusion: protocol for an overview of systematic reviews
  1. Kevin M Trentino1,2,
  2. Shannon L Farmer3,4,
  3. Frank M Sanfilippo1,
  4. Michael F Leahy5,6,
  5. James Isbister7,
  6. Rhonda Mayberry8,
  7. Axel Hofmann3,4,9,
  8. Kevin Murray1
  1. 1 School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
  2. 2 Data and Digital Innovation, East Metropolitan Health Service, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
  3. 3 Medical School and Division of Surgery, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
  4. 4 School of Health Sciences and Graduate Studies, Curtin University, Curtin, Western Australia, Australia
  5. 5 Department of Haematology, PathWest Laboratory Medicine, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
  6. 6 School of Medicine and Pharmacology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
  7. 7 Northern Clinical School, Sydney Medical School, St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia
  8. 8 Library and Information Service, South Metropolitan Health Service, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
  9. 9 Institute of Anesthesiology, Universitat Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
  1. Correspondence to Kevin M Trentino; kevin.trentino{at}uwa.edu.au

Abstract

Introduction There has been a significant increase in the number of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials investigating thresholds for red blood cell transfusion. To systematically collate, appraise and synthesise the results of these systematic reviews and meta-analyses, we will conduct an overview of systematic reviews.

Methods and analysis This is a protocol for an overview of systematic reviews. We will search five databases: MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science Core Collection, PubMed (for prepublication, in process and non-Medline records) and Google Scholar. We will consider systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials evaluating the effect of haemoglobin thresholds for red blood cell transfusion on mortality. Two authors will independently screen titles and abstracts retrieved in the literature search and select studies meeting the eligibility criteria for full-text review. We will extract data onto a predefined form designed to summarise the key characteristics of each review. We will assess the methodological quality of included reviews and the quality of evidence in included reviews.

Ethics and dissemination Formal ethics approval is not required for this overview as we will only analyse published literature. The findings of this study will be presented at relevant conferences and submitted for peer-review publication. The results are likely to be used by clinicians, policy makers and developers of clinical guidelines and will inform suggestions for future systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials.

PROSPERO registration number CRD42019120503.

  • blood bank and transfusion medicine
  • anaemia
  • transplant medicine

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029828

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors KMT designed, developed and refined the study protocol with contributions from all coauthors (KM, FMS, SLF, JI, AH, RM and MFL). KMT and RM developed the search strategy and designed the literature search. KMT and SLF will perform the data extraction. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests SLF reports other financial support from National Blood Authority (Australia), non-financial support from Medical Society for Blood Management (Europe), non-financial support from Health Round Table (Australia) and non-financial support from University of Tasmania, Australia, outside the submitted work. JI is chair of the Australian National Blood Authority Patient Blood Management Implementation Committee. AH reports personal fees from the Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria; personal fees and non-financial support from TEM Innovations, Germany; personal fees and non-financial support from Vifor Pharma International AG, Switzerland; personal fees and non-financial support from Hamoview Diagnostics, Australia; personal fees from Thieme Publishing, Germany; personal fees and non-financial support from UCB Pharma, PR of China; personal fees from Vygon SA, France; personal fees and non-financial support from Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma Ltd, Switzerland; personal fees and non-financial support from Swiss Medical Network, Switzerland; and non-financial support from South African National Blood Service, South Africa, outside the submitted work.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.