Cardiac surgery can be scary for blood banks! A busy cardiac surgeon pulls back the curtain on what is really happening in the OR for your ears only.
Dr. Pierre Tibi
Can Blood Management and Heart Surgery Coexist?
Pierre Tibi is a busy cardiac surgeon in Arizona who also happens to be a patient blood management champion! In addition to his practice, he is also president of an international organization dedicated to patient blood management that you have heard of if you’ve listened to this podcast before: The Society for the Advancement of Blood Management (SABM). Pierre has been incorporating blood management principles into his practice for a couple of decades now (since before there even was a patient blood management “movement”), and he is a firm believer that cardiac surgery absolutely CAN be done using a respectful approach to transfusion.
Pierre outlines how he has transfused less than 10% of his cardiac surgery patients for a number of years. Yes, you read that right, and yes, that does include “re-do” operations (to be fair, Pierre does not perform cardiac transplant surgery). He explains steps that surgeons can take both before, during, and after heart surgery to allow for wiser transfusion choices. This interview is stuffed with great information!
Dr. Pierre Tibi
Can Blood Management and Heart Surgery Coexist?
Pierre Tibi is a busy cardiac surgeon in Arizona who also happens to be a patient blood management champion! In addition to his practice, he is also president of an international organization dedicated to patient blood management that you have heard of if you’ve listened to this podcast before: The Society for the Advancement of Blood Management (SABM). Pierre has been incorporating blood management principles into his practice for a couple of decades now (since before there even was a patient blood management “movement”), and he is a firm believer that cardiac surgery absolutely CAN be done using a respectful approach to transfusion.
Pierre outlines how he has transfused less than 10% of his cardiac surgery patients for a number of years. Yes, you read that right, and yes, that does include “re-do” operations (to be fair, Pierre does not perform cardiac transplant surgery). He explains steps that surgeons can take both before, during, and after heart surgery to allow for wiser transfusion choices. This interview is stuffed with great information!
About My Guest:
Pierre Tibi, MD received his Bachelors of Science in Neurosciences from the University of Rochester and his MD from the University of Pittsburgh. He is board-certified in General and Cardiothoracic Surgery after completing both residencies at The University of Rochester.
Dr. Tibi began practice in Phoenix, AZ, and was Managing Partner of Phoenix Cardiac Surgery (PCS) and Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Good Samaritan Medical Center from 1996-2007. In 2007, Pierre founded the open-heart program at Yavapai Regional Medical Center in Prescott, AZ, and is currently Chair of the Cardiovascular Department there. He remains President of PCS, which provides cardiothoracic services throughout Arizona.
Dr. Tibi has had a long interest in Patient Blood Management (PBM) and has developed such programs in hospitals throughout Arizona. He lectures both nationally and internationally on PBM and is currently President of The Society for the Advancement of Blood Management.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed on this episode are those of my guest and I alone, and do not reflect those of the organizations with which either of us is affiliated. Neither Dr. Tibi nor I have any relevant financial disclosures.
Further Reading:
- TITRe-2 Study: Murphy GJ et al. Liberal or Restrictive Transfusion after Cardiac Surgery. New Engl J Med 2015;372:997-1008.
- TRICS III Study Initial Report: Mazer CD et al. Restrictive or Liberal Red-Cell Transfusion for Cardiac Surgery. New Engl J Med 2017;377:2133-2144.
- TRICS III Study Follow-up Report: Mazer CD et al. Six-Month Outcomes after Restrictive or Liberal Transfusion for Cardiac Surgery. New Engl J Med 2018;379:1224-1233.
Music Credit
Music for this episode includes “Cuando te invade el temor” and “Reflejo,” both by Mar Virtual via the Free Music Archive. Click the image below for permissions and license details.
Do you have a reference to the photo/video Dr. Tibi described regarding microcirculatory inflammation and edema with transfused RBCs? He said it was from a study done in Germany.