The effectiveness of bilateral hypogastric artery ligation for obstetric hemorrhage in three different underlying conditions and its impact on future fertility.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effectiveness of bilateral hypogastric artery ligation (BHAL) according to the underlying cause and future fertility in these women.

METHOD: Fifty-eight women who underwent BHAL operation in our department between 1997 and 2008 were further divided into three subgroups in accordance with the underlying disease. Group 1: Severe preeclampsia with coagulapathy (n:24). Group 2: Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) due to uterine atony (n:24). Group 3: Massive hemorrhage due to inadequate surgical control of bleeding and/or uterine rupture (n:10). Effectiveness of BHAL according to the underlying cause and future fertility after BHAL were evaluated.

RESULTS

Success rate of BHAL was found to be 87.9% (51 out of 58 patients). Complication rates of the groups were 25%, 12.5%, and 10%, respectively. There was one maternal death in each group. Mean hospital stay, blood and blood products transfusion need were similar for all groups. Thirty women out of 58 had desired future fertility, and 17/30 (56.7%) of them became pregnant within less than 1 year.

CONCLUSION

BHAL is a safe, effective, life-saving procedure in controlling massive PPH. It preserves future fertility and must be the first choice operation for PPH in young women whichever the underlying condition is.