Severe hypotension related to cell salvaged blood transfusion in obstetrics

Intra-operative blood cell salvage has recently been adopted for use in women at risk of significant haemorrhage during caesarean section. It has also been advocated for use in those patients who refuse allogenic blood transfusion. A 37-year-old pregnant woman (gravida 3, para 2) underwent an elective lower segment caesarean section at 36 weeks for an anterior, major placenta accreta (grade 4). The volume of cell salvaged blood collected during the procedure was 1870 ml. On starting the cell-salvaged blood transfusion, the blood pressure was noted to fall and this was temporally related to the transfusion of the cell-salvaged blood. We review the recent literature and case reports on hypotension related to cell-salvaged blood transfusion.