Maternal body weight and estimated circulating blood volume: a review and practical nonlinear approach.

Postpartum haemorrhage continues to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the obstetric population worldwide, especially in patients at extremes of body weight. Quantification of blood loss has been considered extensively in the literature. However, these volumes must be contextualised to appreciate the consequences of blood loss for individual parturients.

The role of hospital transfusion committees in blood product conservation.

Transfusion committees have been created in different countries to oversee all aspects of blood product transfusion within individual institutions. A fundamental role of hospital transfusion committees is to ensure appropriate blood product use by developing local policies, educating clinicians, and auditing blood use. Unfortunately, this task is hampered by the lack of universally accepted criteria for blood product transfusion.

Cerebral and peripheral oxygen saturation during red cell transfusion.

Background: Changes in regional hemoglobin oxygen saturation occur in response to blood transfusion and can be measured by near infrared spectroscopy.

Patients And Methods: Cerebral (CsO2) and peripheral (PsO2) oxygen saturation were monitored with an INVOS 4100 near infrared spectroscopy oximeter in 29 patients undergoing 84 intraoperative blood transfusions during aortic or spinal surgery. Hemoglobin concentration was measured before and after transfusion.

Can hospital transfusion committees change transfusion practice?

Blood and blood products are commonly over-used in hospital practice. We investigated whether the introduction of a red-cell transfusion trigger (haemoglobin <8 g dL(-1)) influenced transfusion practice in surgery. Coronary artery bypass grafts (CABGs, n=400), total hip replacements (n=107), colectomies (n=85) and transurethral prostatectomies (TURPs, n=158) were reviewed over two periods of six months, before and after the introduction of the policy by the local hospital transfusion committee.

Acute normovolemic hemodilution and intraoperative cell salvage in aortic surgery.

Objective: The objective of this study was to report current transfusion requirements and outcomes in patients undergoing elective aortic surgery with autologous transfusion.

Methods: This was a retrospective review of transfusion practice in infrarenal aortic surgery in a tertiary vascular unit with a longstanding interest in autologous transfusion. One hundred and ten consecutive patients underwent infrarenal aortic surgery with a combination of acute normovolemic hemodilution (ANH) and intraoperative cell salvage (ICS).

Autologous versus allogeneic transfusion in aortic surgery: a multicenter randomized clinical trial.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of acute normovolemic hemodilution (ANH) and intraoperative cell salvage (ICS) in blood-conservation strategies for infrarenal aortic surgery.

Summary Background Data: Recent concerns over the risks of transfusion-related infection have resulted in sharp rises in the cost of blood preparations. Autologous transfusion may be a safe alternative to allogeneic transfusion, which has been associated with immune modulation and postoperative infection.