Uterine inversion: About a case

Abstract

Uterine inversion is a rare but potentially serious complication of labour characterized by "glove-finger" introflexion of the uterine body protruding into the vagina or out of the vulva. This disease commonly occurs just after delivery and it is characterized by severe pain associated with hemorrhagic shock. The diagnosis is essentially based on clinical examination and must be immediate in order to allow quick reinversion before the formation of a constriction ring. Mortality rate is low if patients are early diagnosed and treated. Uterine inversion does not seem to affect the obstetrical prognosis. Contributing factors mainly include uterine hypotonia associated with fundal placenta causing depression of the uterine fundus in case of inappropriate maneuvers (pulling on the umbilical cord, uterine expression). Reinversion should be quick associated with resuscitation measures (shock resuscitation). It is based on several manual methods consisting of returning the uterus after possible muscle relaxants treatment (nitrated derivatives, betamimetics and general anesthesia). Failure results in surgical treatment using high or low approach. We report the case of total uterine reinversion during delivery by cesarean section.