AUTHOR=Bunnell Nicole , Blong April , Kundu Debosmita , Mochel Jonathan Paul , Walton Rebecca 

TITLE=Blood product usage and factors associated with transfusions in cats with hemoperitoneum: 33 cases (2018–2022)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2023.1204864

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2023.1204864

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=Objective – To evaluate  blood product usage in cats with hemoperitoneum. To secondarily evaluate factors associated with transfusion administration and the outcome of cats with hemoperitoneum.
Design – Retrospective study between the years 2018-2022.
Setting – University veterinary teaching hospital and private practice hospital.
Animals – 33 cats admitted to the hospital diagnosed with hemoperitoneum from January 2018 to September 2022. 
Measurements and main results – Medical records were retrospectively reviewed; signalment, point-of-care diagnostics, effusion characteristics, and transfusion administration information was recorded. The most common etiology associated with hemoperitoneum was neoplasia (51.5%). Fifty-one percent (51.5%) of cats received a blood transfusion during hospitalization with the majority of cats receiving multiple transfusion types (69%). The etiology of hemoperitoneum was not associated with receiving a transfusion (P = 0.28) Point-of-care diagnostics including packed cell volume (PCV), total solids (TS) and platelet count were not significantly associated with receiving a transfusion (P = 0.317, P = 0.11 and P = 0.82, respectively). The PCV and TS of the effusion was also not significantly associated with transfusions (P = 0.91 and P = 0.63, respectively). Sixteen cats (48%) survived to discharge. Transfusions were significantly associated with outcome and cats that received a transfusion were more likely to survive to discharge (P = 0.008).
Conclusions – In conclusion, hemoperitoneum from a variety of etiologies in cats is associated with a high proportion of transfusions. None of the evaluated point-of-care diagnostics were associated with transfusion administration in this study. Cats that received a transfusion were more likely to survive to discharge.