Blood Consumption in Placental Abnormalities

Abstract

Introduction: Hemorrhage is one of the most common causes of maternal morbidity and mortality. This study was conducted to investigate how much abnormal placentation can affect blood bank capacity and to measure the burden on the blood bank caused by excessive use of blood and blood products. Methodology: This is a retrospective study conducted at King Saud Medical City Maternity Hospital in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from January 2019-September 2020. It includes 170 cases diagnosed with abnormal placentation (low-lying placenta or placenta previa, accreta, increta, or percreta). The primary purpose was to measure consumption of blood and blood products in cases of placental abnormalities and to investigate how much this affects blood bank capacity. A secondary aim was to report rates of admission to the ICU and maternal mortality. Results: This study included 170 women with placental abnormalities. Placental previa had occurred in 96 cases, followed by placenta accreta in 46 cases, placenta increta in 13 cases, placenta percreta in 8 cases, and low-lying placenta in 7 cases. Most patients (93) were treated with a Bakri balloon to prevent hemorrhage, but 38 patients had a hysterectomy. The average estimation of blood loss was 2210 ml, with no maternal mortality. An average of 3.39 units of packed red blood cells (PRBC) with a maximum of 20 units, 2.12 units of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) with a maximum of 20 units, and 0.7 units of packed platelets (PP) with maximum of 12 units consumed per patient. Eighty-seven patients (51.2%) were admitted to the ICU and 83 others (48.8%) were admitted to the high dependency unit. Conclusion: Blood and blood product volumes had a linear relationship with the severity of placental abnormalities and estimated blood loss. Therefore, blood bank services should be available to save mothers’ life.