Maternal and perinatal outcomes of abruptio placenta at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital: A five-year retrospective review

Background: Abruptio placentae is a form of antepartum hemorrhage that occurs when there is a partial or complete separation of the placenta before the delivery of the fetus. In addition to vaginal bleeding, it is often associated with abdominal pain, uterine tenderness, fetal heart irregularity, and hypertonic uterine contraction. It is a significant cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. It is therefore important to review this obstetrics emergency with a view to creating more awareness on its complications. Objectives: The study was aimed to determine the prevalence as well as the perinatal and maternal outcomes of abruption placentae at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective review of records of pregnant women managed in the labor and postnatal wards of LUTH, Idi-Araba, Nigeria, over a 5-year period from January 2015 to December 2019. Relevant data retrieved were entered and analyzed using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Statistics), version 23. Results: A total of 80 pregnancies were complicated with abruptio placentae giving a prevalence of 0.96% of all admissions during the study period. Several maternal complications recorded included acute renal failure (6.25%), disseminated intravascular coagulation (2.08%), postpartum anemia (37.5%), and postpartum hemorrhage (54.7%). Forty six percent (46%) of the neonates had no complication, 11.3% had early neonatal death, 20% had fresh stillbirth, and 22.5% had birth asphyxia. Conclusion: Abruptio placentae contributed a sizeable proportion to maternal morbidity and perinatal morbidity and mortality in the study population.