Patient Blood Management: Obstetrician, Gynecologist's Perspectives

Abstract

Obstetrics and gynecology is a subject that deals with a lot of blood. Obstetrics is also called “bloody business”. The rate of severe postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) requiring transfusion increase from 30.4 to 96.4 per 10,000 delivery hospitalizations between 1998 and 1999 to 2008 and 2009, respectively [1]. Gynecology is also closely related to blood. Large vessel injury is one of the major complications in gynecologic oncologic surgery. This is a result of massive transfusion. However, blood transfusion has potential dangerous effects which can be classified as infectious and non-infectious risks as well as immunologic causes [2]. Implications of blood transfusion occur more often in patients treated for hematologic disorder or malignancy at a rate of 1% to 6% [3,4]. Concern about viral infection such as the human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B and C viruses, Ebstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, non A and non B hepatitis viruses are growing [5,6]. Transfusion errors contribute to non-infectious complications of Review