Postpartum haemorrhage: new insights from published trials and the development of novel management options



Aflaifel, Nasreen
Postpartum haemorrhage: new insights from published trials and the development of novel management options. PhD thesis, University of Liverpool.

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Abstract

Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) is the most common cause of maternal mortality leading to an estimated 86, 000 deaths/year. The most common cause of PPH is failure of the uterus to contract properly (uterine atony). Several measures have been introduced to prevent and treat atonic PPH, but in spite of active management of the third stage of labour (AMTSL), maternal deaths from PPH still occur. PPH can kill rapidly within two hours or less. PPH has long been recognised as a dangerous complication for mothers. In order to optimise the prevention and treatment of PPH, different approaches have been introduced and modified over the last century. We reviewed the regimes used in the management of the third stage of labour between 1917 and 2011 as described in the successive editions of the ‘Ten Teachers’ books. Throughout the Ten Teachers series, uterotonic drugs have always been taught as being the best initial measure to manage PPH. However, the importance of bimanual uterine compression (BMC) has increased gradually, moving from third to first treatment option over the editions (Aflaifel and Weeks, 2012a). The components of the AMTSL package for PPH prophylaxis have recently been extensively examined in clinical trials. Its effectiveness in reducing blood loss is now known to be almost all due to the uterotonics (Aflaifel and Weeks, 2012b). However, clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of uterotonics in treating PPH are comparatively rare. Where present they usually compare two uterotonics with an absence of control group, as it is unethical to leave a bleeding woman untreated. A recent innovation is to model the likely outcomes in the absence of uterotonic therapy through histograms. This also allows an assessment of the efficiency of treatment by measuring the number of women who stop bleeding shortly after administering treatments. This model has never previously been applied to databases in which uterotonics were used for prophylaxis. In a secondary analysis of 4 large randomised trials, small secondary histogram peaks (primarily attributed to a treatment effect) were still present even if uterotonic therapy had not been used. Furthermore, the study revealed that women were commonly treated at low levels of blood loss (

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information: Date: 2015-04 (completed)
Subjects: ?? RG ??
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 25 Aug 2015 07:28
Last Modified: 17 Dec 2022 01:27
DOI: 10.17638/02015019
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/2015019