LAUSR

BACKGROUND Despite ongoing efforts to reduce perioperative transfusion, there is still high chance of transfusion in total hip arthroplasty (THA). We investigated the requirement of red blood cell (RBC) transfusion according to the administration of single preoperative ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) in patients undergoing THA. METHODS This retrospective study included the patients undergoing unilateral THA from November 2014 to July 2018, who received FCM (FCM group) at 2 weeks prior to the surgery or who did not (Non-FCM group). A propensity-score matching method was used to balance the two groups for analysis. The primary endpoint was to evaluate if there was any difference in requirement of RBC transfusion between the two groups. RESULTS This study included 1,032 cases of THA for final analysis, and the cases were divided into the FCM group (n = 568) and Non-FCM group (n = 464). Propensity matching produced 389 patients in each group. In the FCM group, the amount (0.4 vs. 0.6 units) and incidence (21% vs. 31%) of RBC transfusion was significantly lower compared with the Non-FCM group (P = 0.035 and P = 0.003, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Single preoperative FCM administration without any other supplementation could reduce the requirement of RBC transfusion in patients undergoing THA. This study suggests that single preoperative FCM administration can be recommended as a simple and easy patient blood management strategy in addition to other methods for reducing the RBC transfusion in THA.