Anaemia requiring red blood cell transfusion is associated with unfavourable 90-day survival in surgical patients with sepsis.

Patients who received RBC transfusion between 28 days before and 28 days after the development of sepsis (n = 302) exhibited a significantly higher 90-day mortality rate (34.1% vs 19.6%; P = 0.004, Kaplan-Meier analysis). This association remained significant after adjusting for confounders in the multivariate Cox regression analysis (hazard ratio 1.68; 95% confidence interval 1.03-2.73; P = 0.035). Patients who received transfusions also showed significantly higher morbidity scores, such as SOFA scores, and ICU lengths of stay compared to patients without transfusions (n = 133). Our results indicate that anaemia and RBC transfusion are associated with unfavourable outcomes in patients with sepsis.