Causes of emergency obstetric hysterectomy in a tertiary care center

Background: cesarean hysterectomy is an emergency life-saving procedure performed for massive post-partum hemorrhage when other measures to control bleeding fail. aim: to determine the frequency,causes and complications associated with emergency obstetric hysterectomy (eoh). method: it was a retrospective cross sectional study of eoh performed ingynae unit 111 of services hospital lahore from 1st oct 2013 to 30th sept 2016. data was entered and analyzed in spss. frequency and percentages were calculated for causes,maternal and fetal outcome of eoh. chi-square test was used to assess statistical significance with p < .05 as statistical significant. results: 0.39% of patients had to undergo eoh during the study period. placenta previa with accreta was the commonest reason in 53.3% of cases,uterine atonyin 26.7%,placenta previa without accreta in 11%,and in 8.9% cause was rupture uterus. all the patients had blood loss more than 1.5 liters. there were 9 bladder injuries,3 haematomas,6 wound infections,2 patients had dic one of which died,9 patients were admitted to icu. the mean hospital stay was 7 days. most of babies (64.4%) had good apgar score and there were 10 perinatal deaths. conclusion: eoh is life-saving in uncontrollable hemorrhage. the commonest indicationhas changed from uterine atony to placenta accreta due to rising cesarean section rate. identifying high risk patients and managing promptly can save lives of mothers.