[Massive transfusion in cancer surgery. A study of the survival of 21 patients]

In a retrospective study over 5 years, the evolution of 21 patients who received a massive blood transfusion during a carcinological surgery was analyzed. In this type of surgery, the frequency of massive blood transfusion is 0.28% and affects 2.5% of the patients transfused. In half of the cases, surgery was performed to resect an ovarian cancer. The overall death rate, related to the importance of the blood transfusion, is high: 38% (8 patients out of 21). Among the patients who survived (13), the actuarial survival is low: 10 deaths from local or metastatic disease with a mean survival of 12 months, suggesting that the use of massive blood transfusion was related to the tumoral aggressiveness and to the severity of the deepseated malignant disease.