Original Investigation
Critical Care Medicine
March 28, 2025
Practical Anemia Bundle and Hemoglobin Recovery in Critical Illness: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Matthew A. Warner, Matthew L. Johnson, Andrew C. Hanson, et al
JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8(3):e252353. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.2353
Question Does a multifaceted anemia prevention and treatment bundle vs standard care improve hemoglobin recovery and functional outcomes in adults with postsurgical or medical critical illness?
Findings In this randomized clinical trial that included 100 critically ill adults, receipt of the anemia intervention bundle achieved significantly higher hemoglobin recovery up to 3 months after hospital discharge compared with standard care.
Meaning The findings of this trial indicate that using an anemia prevention and treatment bundle improves hemoglobin concentrations after acute illness; these data can inform the design of future trials.
Abstract
Importance Anemia is a common complication of surgery and acute illness that is associated with adverse clinical outcomes. The role of anemia prevention and treatment strategies in this setting remains unclear.
Objective To evaluate the effect of a multifaceted anemia management bundle vs standard care on posthospitalization hemoglobin recovery and multidimensional functional outcomes in survivors of acute illness.
Design, Setting, and Participants This parallel group randomized clinical trial, known as the Practical Anemia Bundle for Sustained Blood Recovery, was conducted at postsurgical and medical intensive care units at a large US medical center. Critically ill patients (aged ≥18 years) with moderate to severe anemia (hemoglobin concentration <10 g/dL) were enrolled between March 2022 and November 2023. Participants were randomly assigned 1:1 to the intervention or standard care group. Intention-to-treat analyses were performed between July 2024 and January 2025.
Intervention The intervention bundle was delivered throughout the duration of hospitalization and included optimized phlebotomy practices, clinical decision support, and pharmacological anemia treatment with intravenous iron.
Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was the mean difference in hemoglobin concentration at 1 month after hospital discharge.
Results A total of 100 patients (median [IQR] age, 68 [61-72] years; 57 men [57.0%]; 65 [65.0%] with postsurgical admission to the intensive care unit) were enrolled during acute illness. Forty-nine patients (49.0%) were assigned to receive the intervention, and 51 (51.0%) were assigned to receive standard care. Hemoglobin concentration at 1 month after discharge was greater in patients receiving the intervention vs standard care (median [IQR], 12.2 [11.8-13.0] g/dL vs 11.5 [10.2-12.6] g/dL; adjusted mean difference, 0.69 [95% CI, 0.13-1.20] g/dL; P = .02).
Conclusions and Relevance This randomized clinical trial found that a multifaceted anemia prevention and treatment bundle was feasible, was well tolerated, and improved posthospitalization hemoglobin concentrations up to 3 months in critically ill adults. These findings can inform the design of future trials.
Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05167734
