Anemia Could Add to Surgical Risks
Likelihood of complications, death higher for patients with this blood disorder, study says

THURSDAY, Oct. 6 (HealthDay News) — Anemia increases the risk of death and complications in patients who have different types of surgery, not just heart operations, a new study says.
It was known that patients with anemia have worse outcomes after heart surgery, but anemia’s impact on non-cardiac surgical outcomes wasn’t clear. People with anemia are deficient in red blood cells.
For the new study, researchers analyzed data from more than 227,000 U.S. patients who had various types of surgery: general, vascular, orthopedic, gynecological, urological, neurosurgical, otolaryngological, plastic and thoracic. Of the patients in the study, 69,229 had anemia before their surgery.