Blood component therapy in patients having massive obstetric hemorrhage in a tertiary care center in Puducherry

A proper transfusion protocol must be followed for every patient with massive obstetric hemorrhage (MOH), as each patient may need a different pattern of transfusion support. In this background, it is prudent to understand the current prevalent practices and devise preparatory strategies for managing blood requirements during such scenarios. This study helps us know the pattern and type of blood components given to patients with MOHs.

This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on patients with a MOH admitted to a single center at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Puducherry between January 2020 and October 2021. During the hospital stay, patient parameters such as diagnosis, obstetric history, blood loss, transfusion of blood products, transfusion reaction, blood group, length of hospital stay, laboratory parameters, and patient vitals and comorbidities were recorded in a predesigned pro forma and tabulated into Excel sheet and analyzed using SPSS software version 19.0.

Fifty-four patients with MOH were included in our study. The median blood loss was 2.15 L, with a range of 2 L. The mean difference between the baseline and posthemorrhage hemoglobin is 1.7 g/dl. No correlation was observed between the number of packed red blood cell (PRBC) transfused and baseline hemoglobin or between random donor platelets (RDP) transfusion and baseline platelet count. The median number of hospital stays was 10 days, ranging from 7 to 14.5 days. Eleven (20.38%) patients had a hysterectomy done to control bleeding. The remaining 43 patients were managed successfully by other measures such as medical management, compressive surgical suturing, and arterial ligation. Forty-eight (88.9%) patients survived, and 6 (11.1%) patients expired.

The percentage of RDP and cryoprecipitate transfused to the patients was less than PRBC and fresh frozen plasma (FFP). The FFP-to-PRBC ratio was 2. Regular transfusion audits must be conducted to assess the flaws and improve current strategies.