Uterine Massage to Reduce Blood Loss Before Delivery of the Placenta in Caesarean Section: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background/Objective To estimate the effectiveness of uterine massage UM in reducing blood loss before delivery of placenta in CS. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of 1393 women who delivered with CS. Patients who underwent UM (671women) were compared with those who underwent controlled cord traction (722 women). According to risk assessment of PPH, 2 groups were both divided to low risk group and high risk group. Outcomes included blood loss amount within 2 h after delivery, incidence of PPH and intractable PPH. Results Blood loss amount within 2 h was lower in UM group than CCT group(516.6196.5ml compared with 674.1 +/- 272.2ml, P<0.01). The incidence of PPH and intractable PPH didn't differ significantly between the 2 groups (6.7% compared with 9.1%, P=0.09 and 3.9% compared with 5.3%, P=0.22,respectively).In high risk group, the amount of blood loss within 2 h and the incidence of PPH were both lower in UM group (n=382) than CCT group (n=407) (576.8<plus/minus>228.1ml compared with 854.9 +/- 346.1ml, P<0.01 and 7.1% compared with 11.3%,P=0.04 ,respectively). The incidence of intractable PPH didn't differ significantly between the 2 groups (4.7% compared with 6.9%,P=0.19). In low risk group, the 3 outcomes didn't differ significantly between the 2 groups(n=289 vs. 315) (428.5<plus/minus>172.6ml compared with 447.9 +/- 180.5ml; 6.2% compared with 6.3%; 2.8% compared with 3.2%; P=0.56, 0.95 and 0.77,respectively). Conclusion In high risk patients of PPH, UM before delivery of placenta contributed to reduce blood loss in CS.