Clinical outcomes of autologous noncitrated blood transfusion in 19 horses with haemabdomen of diverse aetiologies (2020 – 2025)
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: Background: Autologous blood transfusion in acute blood loss into the abdomen is widely used in small animal and human emergency medicine but is not well described in horses. Objectives: To evaluate the outcomes of autologous transfusion of noncitrated blood in horses with haemabdomen in perioperative and non-perioperative haemorrhage cases. Study design: Retrospective study of clinical records. Methods: Data were extracted from records of nineteen horses diagnosed with haemoabdomen in years 2020–2025, treated with autologous transfusions of noncitrated blood. Six perioperative haemorrhage cases (1 female and 5 males) and thirteen non-perioperative haemorrhage cases of various aetiology (12 females and 1 male) were included in the study. Data on hospitalisation period, amount of transfused blood, number of transfusions, complications, short- and long-term outcomes were compared between the study groups. Results: Nineteen horses aged 3–28 (median age 14) were diagnosed with haemabdomen based on transabdominal ultrasonography and abdominocentesis. Clinical findings on initial examination included abdominal discomfort, tachycardia, prolonged capillary refill time and pale mucous membranes. All nineteen horses underwent autotransfusion of whole noncitrated blood. Total blood volume transfused was 7-38.75 L (median 21.5 L; IQR: 18.5) for the non-perioperative group and 4.5-29.5 L (median 18.25; IQR: 18.5) for the perioperative group. Rapid clinical deterioration was observed in 2 horses in the non-perioperative group and 1 horse in the perioperative group, necessitating euthanasia. The remaining 11 horses in the non-perioperative group (survival rate 11/13) and 5 horses in the perioperative haemorrhage group (survival rate 5/6) survived until discharge following 3–15 days of hospitalisation (median 8.5 days). Main limitations: Retrospective design; heterogeneous, warmblood-oriented population; unbalanced sex distribution in study groups. Conclusions: Autotransfusion of noncitrated blood may be a valuable alternative to standard allogenic blood transfusions and seems to be beneficial for haemoabdomen treatment in all treated haemorrhage cases.
Institution: University of Agriculture in Krakow
Language: English
Subfield: Equine
Field: Veterinary
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4415117737
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