Association of perioperative transfusion of fresh frozen plasma and outcomes after cardiac surgery

Abstract

Background: Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) transfusion is used to manage coagulopathy and bleeding in cardiac surgery patients despite uncertainty about its safety and effectiveness. Methods: We performed a propensity score matched analysis of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons National Cardiac Surgery Database including patients from 39 centres from 2005 to 2018. We investigated the association of perioperative FFP transfusion with mortality and other clinical outcomes. Results: Of 119,138 eligible patients, we successfully matched 13,131 FFP recipients with 13,131 controls. FFP transfusion was associated with 30-day mortality (odds ratio (OR), 1.41; 99% CI, 1.17–1.71; p