Abstract

Emergency hysterectomy in obstetrics is rarely indicated and is always debatable.
The aim of the study is to determine the incidence, sociodemographic factors, indications, maternal characteristics and maternal and perinatal outcome of emergency obstetric hysterectomy. This is a retrospective hospital based study of the cases of emergency obstetric hysterectomy performed over a period of 5 years from Jan 2014 to November 2018. A total of 55 cases of emergency obstetric hysterectomy (EOH) were studied in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, in a Al-Sadaqa Teaching Hospital, Aden. During the study period there were 55 emergency obstetric hysterectomies and 33903 deliveries, giving an incidence of 0.16% or 1.6/1000. The majority of the cases were unbooked (36.4%). It was more common in multipara and grandmultipara (57.3%). Ruptured uterus (60.0%) , atonics postpartum hemorrhage (10.9%) and morbidly adherent placenta (9.1%) were the common indications. Subtotal hysterectomy was performed in 69.1% of the cases and total hysterectomy in the rest. The perinatal mortality was (67.0%), and the maternal mortality was 1.8%. Emergency obstetric hysterectomy is a lifesaving procedure. Uterine rupture, uterine atonia and morbid adherent placenta are the leading indications for emergency obstetric hysterectomy.