Intraoperative red cell salvage during obstetric surgery in 50 Japanese women

Management of severe peri-operative bleeding: Guidelines from the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care: Second update 2022

BACKGROUND

Management of peri-operative bleeding is complex and involves multiple assessment tools and strategies to ensure optimal patient care with the goal of reducing morbidity and mortality. These updated guidelines from the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC) aim to provide an evidence-based set of recommendations for healthcare professionals to help ensure improved clinical management.

DESIGN

A systematic literature search from 2015 to 2021 of several electronic databases was performed without language restrictions. Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies and to formulate recommendations. A Delphi methodology was used to prepare a clinical practice guideline.

RESULTS

These searches identified 137 999 articles. All articles were assessed, and the existing 2017 guidelines were revised to incorporate new evidence. Sixteen recommendations derived from the systematic literature search, and four clinical guidances retained from previous ESAIC guidelines were formulated. Using the Delphi process on 253 sentences of guidance, strong consensus (>90% agreement) was achieved in 97% and consensus (75 to 90% agreement) in 3%.

DISCUSSION

Peri-operative bleeding management encompasses the patient's journey from the pre-operative state through the postoperative period. Along this journey, many features of the patient's pre-operative coagulation status, underlying comorbidities, general health and the procedures that they are undergoing need to be taken into account. Due to the many important aspects in peri-operative nontrauma bleeding management, guidance as to how best approach and treat each individual patient are key. Understanding which therapeutic approaches are most valuable at each timepoint can only enhance patient care, ensuring the best outcomes by reducing blood loss and, therefore, overall morbidity and mortality.

CONCLUSION

All healthcare professionals involved in the management of patients at risk for surgical bleeding should be aware of the current therapeutic options and approaches that are available to them. These guidelines aim to provide specific guidance for bleeding management in a variety of clinical situations.

Biochemical effects of intraoperative cell salvage and autotransfusion during cesarean section: A prospective pilot study

AIM

Intraoperative cell salvage and autotransfusion (ICSA) is a useful technique for women undergoing cesarean sections who are predicted to experience significant bleeding. This method can reduce allogeneic transfusions as well as its associated risks and costs. Amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) is an abnormal maternal response to ICSA similar to the classic systemic inflammatory response syndrome, but its mechanism is not well understood. This study was conducted to investigate the biochemical aspects of AFE.

METHODS

A prospective case-controlled pilot study was conducted in a general perinatal hospital in Japan. ICSA was performed using a two-step retransfusion process. Blood samples were collected presurgery, immediately postsurgery, and 24 h after surgery. Changes in sialyl Tn antigen (STN), complement C3 and C4, fibrinogen, and fibrin degradation product and D-dimer, C1 esterase inhibitor, and interleukin-8 (all considered AFE-related markers) activities were compared between patients who underwent cesarean sections with ICSA (ICSA group) versus without ICSA (control group).

RESULTS

Fibrinogen levels were significantly lower in the ICSA group than in the control group before surgery but not immediately after or 24 h after surgery. D-dimer was significantly higher immediately after surgery but not 24 h later. STN was significantly lower only before surgery. None of the AFE-related markers showed significant differences between the groups after 24 h. No adverse events were observed in the ICSA group.

CONCLUSIONS

There is no clinical evidence that ICSA alters the biochemical statuses of AFE-related markers in a manner that could lead to adverse maternal responses.

Efficiency of leukocyte depletion filters and micro-aggregate filters following intra-operative cell salvage during cesarean delivery

BACKGROUND

Intra-operative cell salvage is not routinely used during cesarean delivery because it is not cost-effective for patients at low risk of hemorrhage and there are theoretical concerns about amniotic fluid embolism. Some guidelines recommend using leukocyte depletion filters to decrease the risk of amniotic fluid embolism before re-infusing salvaged blood, but these filters are not available in Japan. We compared the efficacy and safety of leukocyte depletion and micro-aggregate filters in combination with intra-operative cell salvage during cesarean delivery.

METHODS

Blood was collected in a Cell Saver 5 reservoir during cesarean delivery. Four samples were collected: pre-wash, post-wash, post-filtration with a leukocyte depletion filter and post-filtration with a micro-aggregate filter. Each sample was analyzed for amniotic fluid markers of zinc coproporphyrin-1 and sialyl-Tn, for fetal hemoglobin, and the sample underwent pathological examination for white blood cells and squamous cells. Post-filtration samples were compared using paired t-tests with P <0.05 indicating statistical significance.

RESULTS

Zinc coproporphyrin-1 and sialyl-Tn were negative at almost all sample points. Squamous cells decreased by 59.1% post-wash and 91.2% post-filtration using a leukocyte depletion filter. Leukocyte depletion filters removed 99.7% of white blood cells and were more effective in removing white blood cells than micro-aggregate filters (P=0.02).

CONCLUSION

Leucocyte depletion filters are more effective in removing white blood cells and squamous cells than micro-aggregate filters, and their introduction for intra-operative cell salvage during cesarean delivery should be considered in Japanese clinical practice.

How about "The effect of intraoperative cell salvage on allogeneic blood transfusion for patients with placenta accreta"?: An observational study

Intraoperative cell salvage (IOCS) for high-risk obstetric hemorrhage is now endorsed by a number of obstetric organizations. Most previous studies have focused on the safety of IOCS from case series and small controlled studies. Here, we describe the effect of IOCS on rates of allogeneic blood transfusion (ABT) under different degrees of bleeding during cesarean section in women with placenta accreta, which has seldom been reported in the literature.We conducted a retrospective analysis on the introduction of routine application of IOCS for the management of hemorrhage during cesarean section in women with placenta accreta. We identified 115 women, with prenatally diagnosed placenta accreta/increta/percreta before this change in practice, who served as controls, and 108 women who had IOCS applied during cesarean section.Compared with the control treatment, IOCS was significantly associated with a lower incidence of ABT (odds ratio, 0.179; 95% confidence interval, 0.098-0.328). Among the women with ≤3000 mL of bleeding, ABT was avoided in 80 (93.0%) of the 86 patients in the IOCS group, while 49 (50.0%) of the 98 controls required ABT. For women with an estimated blood loss >3000 mL, the reinfused IOCS blood may have helped prevent the need for ABT in 6 (28.6%) of the 21 patients, while all of the 17 controls required ABT. Subgroup analysis of coagulation function and the need for coagulation components showed no significant difference between the 2 groups (P > .05). Compared with the control treatment, IOCS was associated with a lower intraoperative volume of crystalloid (P < .01) and colloid infusion (P < .01) and a shorter length of postoperative hospital stay (P < .01) in patients with placenta accreta. In addition, there were no complications or adverse reactions in patients with placenta accreta who underwent IOCS.IOCS helped reduce the need for ABT and fluid transfusion in patients with placenta accreta and may be safe for use in obstetrics.

Successful Resuscitation Following Massive Obstetric Hemorrhage in a Patient of the Jehovah's Witness Faith: A Case Report

Hemorrhage is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is especially difficult to treat in patients of the Jehovah's Witness faith because they refuse certain blood products. This case report describes the resuscitation of a parturient Jehovah's Witness whose postcesarean delivery course was complicated by massive hemorrhage from unrecognized arterial bleeding in the intensive care unit with significant hemodynamic instability that necessitated an emergency bedside laparotomy. Her hemoglobin nadir was 1.5 mg/dL. The case demonstrates the key place of preprocedure planning, blood conservation, and coagulation factor management in this specific patient population.

Autologous and Nonautologous Blood Transfusion in Patients with Ruptured Ectopic Pregnancy and Severe Blood Loss

BACKGROUND

There are some theoretical concerns for the use of intraoperative cell salvage (ICS) in patients with ectopic pregnancy. This study aimed to observe the impact of ICS on the coagulation function and clinical outcomes of patients with ruptured ectopic pregnancy and severe blood loss.

METHODS

This was a retrospective study of 225 patients with ruptured ectopic pregnancy and severe blood loss treated at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University between January 2012 and May 2016. Patients were grouped according to ICS (n = 116) and controls (n = 109, allogenic transfusion and no transfusion).

RESULTS

Compared with controls, patients with ICS had shorter hospitalization (P = 0.007), lower requirement for allogenic blood products (P < 0.001), and higher hemoglobin levels at discharge (P < 0.001). There were no complications/ adverse reactions. In the ICS group, hemoglobin at discharge (-6.5%, P = 0.002) and thrombin time (-3.7%, P = 0.002) were decreased 24 h after surgery, while 24 h APTT was increased (+4.6%, P < 0.001). In the control group, hemoglobin at discharge (-16.8%, P < 0.001) was decreased after surgery and 24 h APTT was increased (+2.4%, P = 0.045). At discharge, hemoglobin levels were higher in the ICS group (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

ICS was associated with good clinical outcomes in patients with ruptured ectopic pregnancy and severe blood loss.