Is there a minimum patient number, which should be included into the trial?

• Yes, a minimum of 20 patients should be recruited per centre.

How long is the study period?

• Study period is (5-)7 days within a self-selected week until August 30^th 2020.

Which patients should be included?

• All patients that match the inclusion/exclusion criteria with planned surgery within study week should be included in the trial (consecutive numbering!). Furthermore, each centre should record how many patients were screened and how many failed/met the different eligibility criteria

What about patients admitted and undergoing surgery during night?

• Patients admitted to the hospital during night and undergoing immediate surgery are not included in the study.

Who is performing the blood test to evaluate cause of anaemia?

• The hospital or any other system that works for you is responsible for performing the blood test.

Who is paying for the anaemia management?

• We do not have any funding to provide compensation. However, hospitals without BUT INTEREST in routine anaemia management should participate in this (5-)7 days prevalence trial because of the following advantages:
  • to estimate the number of patients with iron/folate acid/vitamin B12 deficiency and anaemia of chronic kidney disease/inflammation
  • to find out which patient group would benefit from treatment and how to set up an anaemia management
  • to get a hint about costs

Which patients should be excluded?

• Patients with preoperative autologous blood donation
• Patients with planned revision surgery within the study period
• Patients whose first surgery during hospitalisation was before the start of the study period (the first surgery during hospitalisation must be within the study week)