Surgical Treatment of Early Postpartum Hemorrhage Caused by Lower Uterine Segment Atony

Abstract

Purpose: Lower uterine segment atony is recently being recognized as one of the major reasons for early postpartum hemorrhage.Methods: We present our experience in surgical treatment of lower uterine segment atony patients that were delivered in our tertiary perinatal center during the 10 years period (2010-2019).Results: This particular study enrolled total number of 29 543 deliveries with 215 cases of early PPH (0,72%). LUSA was diagnosed in 44 cases or in 29,93% in all uterine atony cases. Exploration of the lower uterine segment accompanied by evacuation of the coagula was conducted in 5 cases (11,36%), haemostatic ligation procedures according to authors: Losickaja in 2 cases, Hebisch-Huch in 9 cases, Habek in 5 cases, Hebisch-Huch+Losickaja in 9 cases. Evacuation procedures were combined with ligation techniques in 7 cases, evacuation methods with ligation techniques and balloon tamponade in 2 cases, exploration combined with gauze tamponade in 1 case and ligation procedures with balloon tamponade in 3 cases. According to our results, haemostatic ligation procedures alone or combined with tamponade, have shown to be highly effective in 88,63%. Conclusion: Transvaginal approach for surgical treatment of lower uterine segment atony is accessible, feasible, successful and life saving. It can be easily performed in inpatient and outpatient care settings followed by administration of uterotonics, uterostiptics and tranexamic acid and fluid replacement. All of the above mentioned methods are of great importance in the prevention and treatment of obstetric hemorrhagic shock, development of coagulopathy, multiorgan failure, postpartum hysterectomy and finally vital for fertility preservation.