Impact of anemia on in-hospital complications after ischemic stroke

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In-hospital complications after stroke represent barriers to optimal recovery and are even potentially life-threatening. Anemia is common in stroke patients and is related to poor outcome after stroke. Less is known, however, of the association of anemia with complications. We aimed to investigate the impact of anemia on a series of in-hospital complications after ischemic stroke. METHODS Consecutive patients with ischemic stroke within 7 days were included. Anemia on admission and its severity were defined according to World Health Organization criteria. Eight pre-specified complications, such as pneumonia, gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) and hemorrhagic transformation, were recorded during hospitalization. RESULTS A total of 2647 patients were included. Anemia was present in 648 patients (24.5%), and 883 patients (33.4%) experienced at least one complication. Patients with anemia were more likely to experience one or more complications, pneumonia, GIB and thromboembolism (all P