Autotransfusion in ruptured ectopic pregnancy

In a fourteen year period 1055 cases of ruptured ectopic pregnancy were operated on at one hospital in the West Indes. 76 percent of these patients required transfusion, and 530 were given their own blood collected from the intraperitoneal cavity, with or without donor blood. In 424 other cases the blood collected in this way was unsuitable for autotransfusion. On blood culture only "air contaminants" were found. There were only two complications (fever in one case and hypotension in another) and no deaths related to transfusion. In view of the hazards of transfusion of donor blood and the shortage of such blood in many centres, a plea is made for the reintroduction of this procedure in the management of ruptured ectopic pregnancies (AU)