Effect of implementation of a colorimetric quantitative blood loss system for postpartum hemorrhage

Objective: To evaluate if the implementation of a colorimetric quantitative blood loss (QBL) system during cesarean delivery improves clinical outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis after cesarean section before and after implementation of the Triton based colorimetric QBL system. Prevalence of postpartum hemorrhage, amount of blood products transfused, length of hospitalization, and rates of intensive care unit (ICU) admission were compared.

Results: A total of 2221 patients were included. There were 1192 patients in the pre-intervention group and 1029 patients in the post-intervention group. There was no significant difference between groups in the prevalence of postpartum hemorrhage (8.6% vs 9.3%, P = 0.57), amount of packed red blood cells (pRBCs) transfused (45 vs 30, P = 0.41) or average length of hospital stay in days (3.0 vs 3.0, P = 0.37). There was a statistically significant decrease in ICU admissions between the pre- and post-intervention groups (2.2% vs 1.0%, P = 0.02).

Conclusion: There was no effect of implementation of the colorimetric QBL application system on diagnosis of postpartum hemorrhage, amount of blood products transfused, or length of hospital stay. Although a significant decrease in ICU admissions was observed, we could not determine if these transfers were hemorrhage related.