Experience of autologous blood transfusion in an obstetrics and gynaecology department

Objective To demonstrate the potential and effectiveness of autologous blood transfusion in an obstetric and gynaecological practice. Setting The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the department of Haematology, University College Hospital, Galway, Ireland. Subjects One hundred and sixty‐eight women undergoing abdominal hysterectomy, 42 women undergoing repair procedures, and 56 women undergoing elective caesarian sections participated in this programme. Results In the abdominal hysterectomy group 329 units of blood were collected of which 48% were transfused to the donors. In the repair group 82 units of blood were collected of which 21.9% were transfused to the donors. In the elective caesarian section group 105 units of blood were collected of which 64.7% were transfused to the donors. Overall the donation procedure was well tolerated with infrequent donor reactions. Conclusion Our experience demonstrates that autologous blood transfusion is a safe and reasonable transfusion practice in the setting of obstetrics and gynaecology.