Background Liver resection is associated with a high proportion of red blood cell
transfusions. There is a proposed association between perioperative transfusions and
increased risk of complications and tumor recurrence. This study reviews the evidence of
this association in the literature. Methods The Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases
were searched for clinical trials or observational studies of patients undergoing liver
resection that compared patients who did and did not receive a perioperative red blood cell …

Background Liver resection is commonly performed for malignant and benign disease and is
associated with frequent use of intraoperative and postoperative blood transfusions. Blood
transfusions are potentially life-saving, but they have many adverse effects; some well
understood, and others less so. Some of the poorly understood side effects include
increased risk of postoperative complications and possibly worse oncologic outcomes. The
objective of this systematic review is to provide estimates of transfusion prevalence and the …