Key clinical point: Intraoperative cell salvage (ICS) is an effective and safe method for blood loss recovery in patients with a high risk for postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) during cesarean section.
Major finding: Patients who underwent ICS vs received allogeneic red blood cell (RBC) transfusion had significantly higher blood cell count, hemoglobin levels, hematocrit, and fibrinogen levels, and shorter prothrombin time, thrombin time, and activated partial thromboplastin time (all P < .05). ICS treatment did not cause any adverse events.
Study details: This prospective randomized controlled study included 130 patients with a high risk for PPH who underwent elective or emergency cesarean section and were randomly assigned (1:1) to undergo ICS (n = 65) or receive allogeneic RBC transfusion (control; n = 65) if the hemoglobin level was <80 g/L during surgery.
Disclosures: This study was sponsored by the Beijing Science and Technology Commission Research Fund, China. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Lei B et al. Intraoperative cell salvage as an effective intervention for postpartum hemorrhage—Evidence from a prospective randomized controlled trial. Front Immunol. 2022;13:953334 (Oct 10). Doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.953334