A comparison of booked and unbooked patients with ruptured uterus in A referral hospital in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To document differences in characteristics and outcome between booked and unbooked patients with ruptured uterus METHODS: A 10 year retrospective comparative analysis of booked and unbooked patients with ruptured uterus at the Baptist medical center, Eku, Delta State. RESULTS: The overall incidence of ruptured uterus was 1 in 271 deliveries while the incidence among booked and unbooked patients was 1 in 556 and 1 in 140 respectively. There were a statistically significant difference in number of booked patients with formal education beyond the primary level compared with the unbooked patients (p = 0.0206; 95% CI 1.92-14.79). A higher proportion of booked patients with ruptured uterus had history of previous uterine scar. All the three maternal deaths occured in the unbooked patients. The overall case fatality rate for ruptured uterus was 23% or 1 in 4.3. CONCLUSION: Booked and unbooked patients with ruptured uterus have different characteristics and outcome. Subsequent studies on ruptured uterus should disaggregate their data according to the booking category of the patients. This will assist in making effective intervention plans that will impact both groups.