Comparison of European recommendations about patient blood management in postpartum haemorrhage

Authors : Leal, R; Lança, F

Affiliations: CSL Behring, LDA, Lisbon, Portugal. Anesthesiology Department, Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte, Lisbon, Portugal.

Publication: Transfusion medicine (Oxford, England) ; 2022

Abstract: Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) is the leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide. Some documents with practical recommendations for the management of PPH do not include the most updated directives. This review offers a quality comparison of the recommendations stated in Europe since 2015. A literature search was conducted to identify the documents published in Europe from 2015 to 2020 containing recommendations about management of PPH. The search returned 10 publications. A narrative synthesis and a summary of the information about PPH definition and its management were performed. Differences in the definition of PPH were identified: some documents considered the delivery procedure, and many publications included severity criteria. The therapeutic goal for red blood cells transfusion ranged from 6 to 9 g/dl. There were divergences in the need for considering haemostatic results before fresh frozen plasma transfusion. The therapeutic goal of platelet transfusion ranged from 50 x 10(9) to 100 x 10(9) μ/L. There was a wide consensus about the therapeutic goal of fibrinogen replacement (>2 g/L), but not about its use in an unmonitored or pre-emptive manner. Most publications included therapeutic approaches such as tranexamic acid and recombinant factor VII activated, but not prothrombin complex concentrate or coagulation factor XIII. The recommendations about PPH management offered in European documents are heterogeneous and have changed over time. The standardization of all them could be useful to make progress in PPH clinical management and research which, in turn, could strongly impact in patient outcomes.