Laparoscopic Hemostasis of Intractable Delayed Postpartum Hemorrhage

Abstract

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality, particularly when relaparotomy is necessary. The etiology of spontaneous intractable PPH in a hemodynamically stable patient is poorly understood and remains open to speculation. Secondary, or delayed, PPH is usually defined as the excessive bleeding from the genital tract, with a loss of 500 ml or more of blood occurring after the first 24 hours after delivery until the sixth week of puerperium. In this report, we present three cases of severe, diffuse postpartum bleeding unresponsive to conventional hemostatic measures, which were successfully managed laparoscopically at our center. In all three cases, hemostasis was accomplished by using a laparoscopic procedure: with the excision of cervical stump bleeding in the first case, bilateral uterine artery ligation accompanied by laparoscopic hysterectomy in the second case, and bilateral internal iliac artery ligation in the third case.