My grandfather had a stroke on May 24. He s been in the hospital since slowly recovering. He was due to have a feeding tube put in tomorrow and today they said his red blood count was low. Was wondering what the possible cause of this could be? He s only been on ivee fluids since the stroke.
Hello and welcome to Chat Doctor, Most common cause of low red blood cell count is blood loss. Blood loss can be acute or chronic. Acute blood loss occurs during trauma or injury, Blood loss can be internal i.e. blood is lost in the body cavities or blood loss can be external i.e. outside body. Blood loss can be chronic. Chronic blood loss is loss of small amounts of blood over long period of time. Consult your treating doctor to look for these causes of blood loss. Recovery or treatment of these conditions lead to recovery of red cell mass. Thanks and take care Chat Doctor.