Publication:

Morbidity and mortality associated with emergency obstetric hysterectomy: a three year retrospective study in a tertiary care centre of India

Background Emergency obstetric hysterectomy (EOH) continues to remain an important life saving procedure in the era of modern obstetrics. EOH acts as a near miss marker as a proxy for maternal mortality. The objective of this study was to analyze 52 EOH done in a tertiary care centre of Ajmer, Rajasthan, India.

Methods A retrospective study was done using hospital records of 52 EOH done in a three year period in the Department of Obstetric and Gynaecology, LNJ Medical College, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India.

Results The incidence of obstetric hysterectomy was 1.25 in 1000 deliveries. The average age of the patients was 27.8 years. Most common reason for EOH was post partum haemorrhage (PPH). 86.5% patients went under subtotal hysterectomies. Several complications occurred in these patients, severe anemia being most common. 28.8% patients died after the operations. More than half patients delivered a live baby while 40.4% had still births.

Conclusions EOH is a life saving procedure. The outcome depends on timely decision and apt clinical judgement because delay can lead to high maternal as well as infant mortality.