Table 1: Summary of 17* guidelines for the transfusion of red cells and plasma
Guideline	Sponsor	Setting	Methods					Comments
			Electronic search	Literature selection criteria	Grading of evidence	Recommendations
						Number	Grading
Red cells
Surgical red blood cell transfusion practice policies84 (1995)	None	Perioperative	No	No	No	31	Yes	Evidence inconsistently applied. Many recommendations. Very detailed.
Consensus statement on red cell transfusion78 (1994)	Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh	All patients	No	No	No	4	No	Report from consensus conference. Not evidence based.
Pratiques transfusionelles en hématologie clinique75 (1993)	Collège français des hématologistes	Acute leukemia	No	No	No	1	No	Only guideline recommending trigger (80 g/L). Use of platelets addressed.
Practice strategies for elective red blood cell transfusion7 (1992)	American College of Physicians	All patients	Yes	No	No	26	No	Focus on blood avoidance. Literature search not reproducible.
Perioperative red blood cell transfusion9 (1988)	National Institutes of Health	Perioperative	No	No	No	5	No	Broad recommendations. Focus on blood avoidance.
Plasma
Practice parameters for the use of fresh frozen plasma, cryoprecipitate and platelets85 (1994)	American College of Pathologists	All patients	No	No	No	16†	No	Does not advocate assessment of ongoing bleeding.
Guidelines for the use of fresh frozen plasma86 (1992)	British Society for Haematology	All patients	No	No	No	17	No	Limited to pathologists. Defines fresh-frozen plasma, indications and dosing. Not evidence based.
Hospital blood transfusion audit systems87 (1988)	British Society for Haematology	Massive bleeding	No	No	No	8‡	No	Specific to massive blood loss.
Fresh-frozen plasma: indications and risks8 (1985)	National Institutes of Health	All patients	No	No	No	9§	No	Defines fresh-frozen plasma, indications and dosing. Expert panel.
Red cells and plasma
Practice guidelines for blood component therapy74 (1996)	American Society of Anesthesiologists	Perioperative obstetrics	Yes	Yes	Yes	11	Yes	Most rigorously developed guidelines. Evidence limited to clinical studies.
Blood component therapy77 (1995)	American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists	Obstetrics, gynecology	No	No	No	10	No	All blood components mentioned. Indications used; contraindications stated. No primary evidence cited.
Criteria for transfusion of blood components80,81 (1992, 1993)‡	Toronto, Vancouver regional Red Cross centres	All patients	No	No	No	9	No	Locally developed. Recommendations limited, not graded. No literature review.
Clinical guide to transfusion82 (1993)	Canadian Red Cross Society	All patients	No	No	No	13	No	All blood components mentioned. No literature review. Detailed product information.
Guidelines for transfusion support in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting79 (1990)	American Association of Blood Banks	Coronary artery bypass grafting‡	No	No	No	8	No	Vague recommendations.
Strategies for the review of transfusion practices83 (1989)	American Association of Blood Banks	All patients	No	No	No	13	No	Audit criteria only. Not a CPG. Not evidence based.
Contemporary transfusion practice76 (1987)	American Association of Blood Banks	All patients	No	No	No	12§	No	Position paper review more than a CPG. Consensus process not mentioned.
*These 2 guidelines80,81 were treated as 1 as they were virtually identical. †In this guideline, there were 8 clinical indications and approximately 8 recommendations on dosing. ‡The number of recommendations was based on the subheadings, not on the number of specific statements addressing therapeutic interventions. §Only refers to red cell or plasma recommendations.

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