Transfusion Practices of Blood and Blood Components at A Tertiary Care Hospital

Objective: To study the trends in transfusion practices in the obstetrics unit of a tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: This was an observational study. Study was conducted in obstetrics unit of a public sector tertiary care hospital, which is a densely populated city of Pakistan. Study duration was 5 month January 2015- May 30, 2015. Sample size of 200 obstetric patients relieving blood transfusion. Results: The mean age of the participants was 27.81 years +/- 5.5 years. Out of total 200 participants 80.1(n=157) had cesarean delivery, 10.7% (n=25) had assisted vaginal delivery,9.2(n=18) had spontaneous vaginal delivery. Mode of delivery was highly associated with the booking status as well and most of the unbooked and referred cases underwent cesarean section at p value of 0.00. Out of total transfusions 38.78% received transfusions during intrapartum period and transfusion of blood and blood component therapy was significantly more in women who underwent, compared to those women who had vaginal delivery at a p value of 0.00 which is highly significant, while 30.6%, 24.49% received during ante partum and postpartum periods, respectively. 33.3% had previous history of obstetric transfusion. The indications of transfusion were noted. Conclusion: The results helped to evaluate the frequent indication of blood transfusion in obstetrics, the number and components of blood transfused that would be helpful to estimate the need of blood products in future, to cope up the need and to secure an adequate blood donor pool.