Owing to the constantly evolving nature of the medical literature, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) clinical practice guidelines periodically undergo evaluation and updating. A multidisciplinary panel of experts was convened by STS,which includes members of the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA), the American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology (AmSECT), and the Society
for the Advancement of Blood Management (SABM), to review the latest data on patient blood management and to update the 2011 Update to The Society of Thoracic Surgeons and the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists Blood Conservation Clinical Practice Guidelines.
The concept of patient blood management informs the recommendations in this document and stresses the importance of an evidence-based, multimodal, and multidisciplinary approach to not just conserving blood resources but also optimizing outcomes in patients at high risk for transfusion. The individual recommendations are meant to be conceived of as part of an all inclusive protocol-based and shared decision-making approach rather than isolated interventions to reduce blood loss and transfusion.