OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to estimate the incidence, costs and length of stay (LOS) of bleeding-related consequences in various surgical procedures in France.  METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted using the national Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) database (PMSI). Patients with surgical procedures in 2008 were identified based on DRGs. For each DRG, the rate of bleeding-related consequences was estimated. For DRGs with an incidence of bleeding-related consequences over 10%, age and gender-adjusted hospital LOS and costs were examined among patients with (WB) and without bleeding related consequences (WoB). The rates of hospitalizations exceeding the expected LOS (derived from PMSI) between WB and WoB surgeries were compared using multivariate logistic regression.   RESULTS: Of the 88 different DRGs in French database, 24 (a total of 321,657 hospitalizations) had an incidence of bleeding-related consequences over 10%, ranging from 10.3% to 25.3%. DRGs with higher rates were transplantations, cardiac and major orthopedic surgery, vascular and solid organ surgery. Age and gender adjusted mean LOS for WB patients was 3.38 days longer (+26.5%) compared with WoB patients (p<0.001). Average adjusted costs were estimated at €12,087 per WB stays versus €10,086 per WoB stays, corresponding to a 19.9% increase (p<0.001). The rate of hospitalizations exceeding the expected LOS was respectively 42.3 % and 37.0% for WB and WoB hospitalizations (p<0.001). WB hospitalizations were approximately 10% more likely to exceed expected LOS compared to WoB (OR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.07-1.11, p<0.001), after adjusting for patient characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: This study characterizes the increased hospital LOS and cost among patients with bleeding-related consequences in France. In particular, the excess LOS than expected DRG LOS presents significant financial burden related to bleeding consequences for hospitals. Awareness of potential clinical and economic impacts of bleeding-related consequences provides important framework for understanding the value of blood-conservation strategies.