Biomechanical and soft tissue pathologies are common in older adults with CLBP, and many can be assessed reliably using a brief physical examination. Their recognition may save unnecessary healthcare expenditure and patient suffering.
Objective
To report maternal outcomes in a cohort of women who received autotransfusion of vaginally shed blood and to describe the feasibility of blood collection and cell salvage processing at the time of vaginal hemorrhage.
Study Design and Methods
We conducted a retrospective case series of patients who received autotransfusion of vaginally shed blood at the time of obstetric hemorrhage from January 2014 to August 2020. Maternal data and cell salvage utilization characteristics were abstracted from the electronic medical record.
Results
Sixty‐four cases were identified in which autotransfusion of vaginally shed blood occurred during an obstetric hemorrhage. Median quantitative blood loss was 2175 ml (interquartile range 1500–2250 ml) with 89% of cases having a blood loss greater than 1000 ml. Patients on average received approximately 1.3 units of autologous blood product (384 ml, interquartile range 244–520 ml) and no direct adverse events were observed during transfusion. We observed heterogeneity in autologous blood volume across all values of quantitative blood loss. The need for allogenic blood transfusion was common and occurred in 72% of all cases (N = 46). There were no documented cases of maternal sepsis or severe infectious morbidity.
Conclusion
In 64 cases where autotransfusion of vaginally shed blood occurred, autotransfusion was well tolerated. Heterogeneity in autologous blood volume collection likely represents the lack of standardized protocols for blood collection in the delivery room. Autotransfusion of vaginally shed blood is a feasible and reasonable technique to employ during severe obstetric hemorrhage.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.