Blood doping in the surgical intensive care unit: Evidence-based surgical rebuttal

A hypothesis by Wan et al1 Wan J.J. Mortensen E. Knudson M.M. Harken A.H. Blood doping in the surgical intensive care unit. Surgery. 2006; 140: 6-8 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (2) Google Scholar suggests that critically ill patients in the surgical intensive care unit might benefit from being transfused to a normal hematocrit. They attempt to justify their opinion by citing references to the beneficial effects of blood doping in the sports medicine literature. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if patients behaved like world class athletes? However, they do not.