The majority of complications from allogeneic RBC transfusion, however, are no more frequent in the intensive care setting than in other patient populations, with the possible exception of pulmonary oedema, hypothermia and electrolyte disturbance. Hypothermia and electrolyte disturbances occur most frequently with massive transfusions. In critically ill patients, the optimal effective circulatory volume may be difficult to determine, and as a consequence pulmonary oedema may be a much more frequent complication of RBC transfusion than in other patient populations. This may explain the significantly higher rate of pulmonary oedema in patients transfused using a threshold of 100 g/l (5.3% in the restrictive transfusion group versus 10.7% in the liberal transfusion group; P < 0.01), as reported in the TRICC trial [10] . As an alternative explanation, the more frequent use of RBCs might have resulted in more frequent episodes of transfusion-related acute lung injury in the liberal strategy group (7.7% in the restrictive strategy versus 11.4% in the liberal strategy; P = 0.06), as reported in the TRICC trial.