Case-control study of shock index among women who did and did not receive blood transfusions due to postpartum hemorrhage.

OBJECTIVE

To compare shock index (SI) values between women who required blood transfusion due to postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) and women who did not.

METHODS

In a case-control study, clinical data were assessed from the medical records of women requiring blood transfusion for PPH at a center in Brazil between 2012 and 2015 (n=105). A control group was randomly selected from women who did not receive blood transfusion (n=129).

RESULTS

Compared with women who did not receive a transfusion after delivery, women who did receive one had significantly higher SI values 10 minutes after delivery (0.81 ± 0.27 vs 0.72 ± 0.16; P=0.012), at 30 minutes (0.83 ± 0.26 vs 0.71 ± 0.15; P<0.001), and at 2 hours (0.84 ± 0.27 vs 0.70 ± 0.14; P=0.032). For vaginal deliveries, SI values were significantly different at 30 minutes (0.88 ± 0.26 vs 0.71 ± 0.14; P<0.001) and 2 hours (0.90 ± 0.23 vs 0.72 ± 0.14; P=0.001). No significant differences were found for cesarean delivery.

CONCLUSION

The SI might be useful to identify early vital sign changes due to PPH. Increased SI values were associated with need for transfusion in vaginal deliveries.