Role of uterovaginal packing in postpartum hemorrhage

Objective: to find out the safety and efficacy of uterovaginal packing in postpartum hemorrhage in terms of complications and success to arrest bleeding. place & duration of study: this study was conducted at department of obstetric & gyne-cology nawabshah medical college hospital,sindh-pakistan from 2nd january 2008 to 4th august 2009. patients & methods: in this prospective interventional study all patients presenting with postpartum hemorrhage who did not responded to medical treatment,placenta previa or coagulation failure,following vaginal delivery or cesarean section,were included. multiparous women were also included in the study if they expressed strong desire to conserve uterus. cases of ruptured uterus,perineal trauma,cervical trauma and vaginal trauma were excluded from this study. frequencies and proportions of complications were calculated along with rate of successful cessation of bleeding. data were analysed by spss version 11. results: during study period 138 patients of postpartum hemorrhage underwent utero-vaginal packing. uterine atony unresponsive to oxytocics was the commonest cause of post-partum hemorrhages (n=88,63.76%) followed by coagulopathy in 25 (18.11%). uterovaginal packing was successful in 89.14% patients. post-insertion morbidity included fever more than 100°f in 25 (18.11%) and episotomy wound infection in 9 (6.52%) patients. conclusion: results of this study show that uterovaginal packing is effective in arresting the bleeding. uterovaginal packing still retains an important role in emergency obstetrics.