The results of the STRATUS randomized clinical trial have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), as Small-Volume Blood Collection Tubes to Reduce Transfusions in Intensive Care.
This trial tests if transitioning from standard-volume to small-volume blood collection tubes for laboratory testing in intensive care units (ICUs) reduces red blood cell (RBC) transfusions?
The result is that after transition to small-volume tubes in this stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial, RBC transfusion was not significantly different in the primary analysis of 21 201 patients, excluding 6210 admitted during the COVID-19 pandemic (relative risk, 0.91), but it was significantly lower in the secondary analysis of all 27 411 patients (RR, 0.88; absolute decrease, 9.84 RBC units/100 patients). The frequency of insufficient specimens was not different (≤0.03%).
This means that small-volume blood collection tubes in the ICU may decrease RBC transfusions without affecting laboratory analysis.
