Publication:

Maternal and Perinatal outcomes of oligohydramnios in a tertiary care hospital in Salem, Tamil Nadu, India

Background Oligohydramnios is the term coined for a condition where the amount of liquor amnii is less than 200 ml at term. Using an ultrasonogram, oligohydramnios can be deliberated when the vertical pocket of liquor is less than 2 cm or when amniotic fluid index (AFI) is less than 5 cm. Oligohydramnios is reported to occur in 1 to 5% of total pregnancies. It has been associated with adverse maternal and foetal outcomes.

Methods This hospital-based follow-up study was conducted among 540 pregnant women at 37 weeks attending to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology for a period of 1 year from January to December 2018. All included pregnant women were subjected to routine ultrasound examination and assessment of amniotic fluid volume using Amniotic fluid index.

Results The incidence of oligohydramnios was 17.04% (n=92) among the included women and 62% (n=57) among them were primigravida. Among those women diagnosed with Oligohydramnios, the caesarean section rate was 56.5% (n=52), the common indications for LSCS being fetal distress 44. 2% (n=23) and IUGR 34.6% (n=18). The oligohydramnios pregnancies had more associated post-dated deliveries (28.3%), pregnancy induced hypertension (10.9%) and gestational diabetes (8.7%). It was also associated with higher incidence of low birth weight (27.2%), NICU admissions (32.6%), congenital anomalies (3.3%) and fetal deaths (5.4%).

Conclusions The study showed that an amniotic fluid index of less than 5 at term was associated with adverse maternal and perinatal pregnancy outcomes emphasizing the importance of amniotic fluid volume surveillance during the antenatal period.