• Stefan Hofer, Jan Blaha, Peter W Collins, Anne-Sophie Ducloy-Bouthors, Emilia Guasch, Francesco Labate, Filipa Lança, Lill Trine Nyfløt, Kostja Steiner, and Marc Van de Velde.
• From the Department of Anaesthesiology, Westpfalz-Klinikum Kaiserslautern, Germany (SH), the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic (JB), the School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK (PWC), the Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Obstetrics Unit, CHU de Lille, Lille, France (ASDB), the Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Department, Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid, Spain (EG), the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, V Cervello Hospital, Palermo, Italy (FrL), the Department of Anaesthesiology, Hospital de Santa Maria, Lisbon, Portugal (FiL), the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Drammen Hospital, Norway (LTN), the Institute for Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, LKH Rohrbach, Rohrbach, Austria (KS), the Department of Anaesthesiology, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (MVdV).
• Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2023 Jan 1; 40 (1): 293829-38.

AbstractPostpartum haemorrhage (PPH) remains the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths worldwide. Typically, bleeding is controlled by timely obstetric measures in parallel with resuscitation and treatment of coagulopathy. Early recognition of abnormal coagulation is crucial and haemostatic support should be considered simultaneously with other strategies as coagulopathies contribute to the progression to massive haemorrhage. However, there is lack of agreement on important topics in the current guidelines for management of PPH. A clinical definition of PPH is paramount to understand the situation to which the treatment recommendations relate; however, reaching a consensus has previously proven difficult. Traditional definitions are based on volume of blood loss, which is difficult to monitor, can be misleading and leads to treatment delay. A multidisciplinary approach to define PPH considering vital signs, clinical symptoms, coagulation and haemodynamic changes is needed. Moreover, standardised algorithms or massive haemorrhage protocols should be developed to reduce the risk of morbidity and mortality and improve overall clinical outcomes in PPH. If available, point-of-care testing should be used to guide goal-directed haemostatic treatment. Tranexamic acid should be administered as soon as abnormal bleeding is recognised. Fibrinogen concentrate rather than fresh frozen plasma should be administered to restore haemostasis where there is elevated risk of fibrinogen deficiency (e.g., in catastrophic bleeding or in cases of abruption or amniotic fluid embolism) as it is a more concentrated source of fibrinogen. Lastly, organisational considerations are equally as important as clinical interventions in the management of PPH and have the potential to improve patient outcomes.Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care.

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