Eisler Lab

Our research focuses on outcomes in patients undergoing major blood loss surgeries, identifying those most likely to require perioperative blood transfusions, the risks and benefits of transfusion, and strategies to improve outcomes and manage blood bank resources. Transfusions can be life-saving in the operating room, but they also are associated with secondary adverse effects. Conversely, patients who avoid transfusion may still experience harms related to surgical bleeding and postoperative iron deficiency and anemia. Evidence-based strategies to address these issues are needed, particularly in pediatric populations for whom early exposure to red blood cell (RBC) transfusions can impact their care as adults, and in whom iron deficiency secondary to bleeding carries greater risks.

We have found that pediatric scoliosis surgery is a procedure in which patients frequently require RBC transfusion, particularly when iron deficiency and/or anemia are present. We observed that transfusion predicts risk of postoperative infection, with a plausible mechanism being the effects of cold-stored blood on the immune response. We noted that iron deficiency and/or anemia are common preoperatively and even more common during recovery. Having identified this vulnerable population, the majority of our investigations focus on pediatric scoliosis surgery as the starting point on which to build evidence for patient blood management strategies. We currently have ongoing clinical trials investigating whether oral or intravenous iron can reduce transfusion, improve hematologic recovery, and mitigate other potential adverse effects of postoperative iron deficiency and anemia.

The Eisler Lab was previously supported by awards from the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research and the Society for the Advancement of Patient Blood Management, and is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health (National Institute for General Medical Sciences) and the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies. The lab operates with support from the Lab for Transfusion Biology.

Clinical Research Coordinators, Lab for Transfusion Biology
Daysha Fliginger
Annie Qiu
Sofia Mansuroglu
Sabrina Sharma

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