Effects of perioperative erythropoietin administration on acute kidney injury and red blood cell transfusion in patients undergoing cardiac surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Pre-operative administration of EPO may reduce the incidence of CSA-AKI and RBC transfusion, but not in patients administered EPO during the intra-operative or postoperative period. Therefore, pre-operative EPO treatment can be considered to improve postoperative outcomes by decreasing the length of hospital and ICU stay in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.