Treatment of anaemia in the “ERAS” era: how far can we go?

It is well-established that pre-operative anaemia, major bleedings and red blood cell (RBC) transfusions are risk factors for perioperative mortality, especially after cardiac surgery (1). It has been estimated an important economic saving (about US $78–97 million) when preoperative measures are undertaken for treating anaemia compared to the use of RBC transfusion during hospital stay (2,3). Management of iron deficiency and anaemia in the perioperative setting is still a matter of debate and several authors have tried to define different strategies.