Der Anaesthesist
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Postoperatively, after an uncomplicated vaginal hysterectomy, a 58-year-old female patient developed the signs of disseminated intravascular coagulation and fever, which progressed to a septic shock. She received two units of autologous blood, one during and one after the operation. ⋯ The source of bacterial contamination could not be identified. Autologous blood products thus also include a risk of infection that shouldn't be underestimated, and a strict medical indication to retransfusion is indispensable.
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Prerequisites for experimental study designs are extremely difficult to realise under prehospital emergency conditions. Results obtained in animal experiments always need validation with prehospital or in hospital patient studies. Investigations related to emergency medicine are, however, an ethical obligation on behalf of the patient. ⋯ Biases in emergency medicine studies focus on the variability of EMS, personnel qualifications, etc. This is in part why it is extremely difficult to prove efficacy and efficiency in emergency medicine. The results of emergency medicine investigations should be published in suitable journals, i.e., journals with a reasonable rating.