INTRAOPERATIVE BLOOD SALVAGE TECHNIQUE

<b>BACKGROUND:</b> Intra-peritoneal blood salvage following massive blood loss in surgical settings is relatively uncommon and a matter of interest for clinicians in general. There have been, however, few reports of such cases in the literature. Any blood salvage procedure perhaps may be a life-saving measure, especially in scenario where compatible homologous blood is not readily available. The rarity of occurrence and clinical curiosity of this entity suggest reporting of this unusual clinical event. <b>CASE PRESENTATION:</b> We report the intra-operative blood collection and subsequent re-transfusion in a 22-year-old Cameroonian primigravida lady. She was hemodynamically unstable following massive intra-peritoneal hemorrhage from a ruptured ectopic gestation. Incidentally, this index patient was successfully resuscitated with timely and appropriate resuscitative measures. She went ahead to have emergency open pelvic exploration and right salpingectomy with good post-operative outcome and recovery. <b>CONCLUSIONS:</b> The practice of intra-operative blood salvage techniques as an antidote to massive blood loss is far from being the reality in most clinical settings. With respect to cost savings associated with the use of intra-operative blood salvage, this becomes relatively significant only when there is a high blood loss and a high blood salvage rate. This case report elaborates the benefits inherent in simple intra-operative blood salvage program with an improvised Johnson’s blood salvage kits used in the index patient; that proved practicable, cost-effective to implement in a busy surgical unit and especially those within resource constrained settings.