Indication and Efficacy of Autologous Blood Transfusion for Pregnant Women

The usefulness of autologous blood transfusion was evaluated in 91 women undergoing autologous blood reservation based on the amount of blood loss during delivery, and the frequency and amount of reserved autologous blood transfused.

Results:

Although the mean frequency of homologous blood transfusion was 0.87% before the initiation of auto-logous blood reservation, it decreased to 0.41% after the initiation of autologous blood reservation. Among 80 women (87.9%) who underwent autologous blood transfusion, homologous blood transfusion was further required in 5 women (5.5%) due to unexpectedly massive bleeding during delivery. All of these 5 women had a past history of cesarean section due to the presence of placenta previa. Of 24 women with placenta previa who underwent autologous blood reservation (excluding those with a past history of cesarean section), homologous blood transfusion might be required in 13 women (54.2%) due to more than 1500 ml of blood loss during cesarean section, but homologous blood transfusion was avoided in all of these 13 women. Even in women who did not require emergency intraoperative blood transfusion, anemic symptoms were improved by postoperative transfusion of reserved autologous blood without producing any adverse reactions.

Conclusions:

These findings suggest that autologous blood transfusion may decrease the frequency of homologous blood transfusion in women with a possibility of massive bleeding during cesarean section due to the presence of placenta previa, a past history of cesarean section, or uterine leiomyoma developing in the anterior wall. Therefore, further distribution of autologous blood transfusion is needed in the future.