Cell salvage in obstetric anesthesia

S Louage1, M Van de Velde

  • 1Department of Anaesthesiology, UZLeuven, Leuven, Belgium. sofie.louage@uzleuven.be

Hemorrhage is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. The increasing shortage of blood and blood products, and growing anxiety about the use of donor blood, is leading to investigation and use of several blood conservation techniques. There is an increasing interest in the use of cell salvage. The safety of cell salvage in obstetrics has been questioned, therefore the experience in this field is limited. The aim of this article is to review the medical literature about the prevalence of obstetric hemorrhage, the principles of cell salvage and its safety profile in the obstetric setting.

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