Authors' reply

摘要

Khaled Musallam and colleagues report adverse outcomes in anaemic patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery,1 and Hans Gombotz, in his accompanying Comment,2 elegantly states the case for patient blood management before elective surgery. Patient blood management programmes are often seen as merely good stewardship of the blood supply; but, as Musallam and colleagues' study confirms, they are also the key to better outcomes for patients.Unfortunately, only a tiny proportion of the published material on the effect of preoperative anaemia on surgical outcomes has looked at the cause of the anaemia, and none of the studies in acute coronary syndrome has done so.