Spontaneous delivery or manual removal of the placenta during caesarean section: a randomised controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE
To compare blood loss with spontaneous delivery and manual removal of the placenta during caesarean section.


METHODS
A randomised controlled trial.


METHODS
Four university hospitals between September 1999 and June 2002.


METHODS
A total of 472 women delivering by caesarean section at term were randomised to spontaneous placental delivery (n= 235) or manual removal (n= 237).


METHODS
The allocation was made by opening the next available of a series of sealed opaque envelopes and derived from a computer-generated list of numbers.


METHODS
Significant blood loss, defined as either a drop in haemoglobin of greater than 2.5 g/dL, or the need for blood transfusion.


RESULTS
The mean interval between delivery of the newborn and the placenta was longer in the spontaneous delivery group (3.4 vs 1.9 minutes), but the mean duration of the operation was similar. Significant blood loss occurred in 30 women (13%) in the spontaneous delivery group and 49 women (21%) in the manual removal one (RR 0.62; 95% CI 0.41-0.94). Post-operative fever affected 6 and 5 cases, respectively, and antibiotics were used in 14 and 12 cases, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Allowing spontaneous delivery of the placenta reduces significant blood loss without increasing operating time.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Geneva University Hospitals, Genèva 14, Switzerland.
Michel
M
Morales
Gilles
G
Ceysens
Nicole
N
Jastrow
Caroline
C
Viardot
Gilles
G
Faron
Yvan
Y
Vial
Christine
C
Kirkpatrick
Olivier
O
Irion
Michel
M
Boulvain
D000328:Adult; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000379:methods; D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010920:Placenta; D019106:Postoperative Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012307:Risk Factors