ABSTRACT
Objective: This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of Foley catheter balloon tamponade in postpartum haemorrhage at Combined Military Hospital [CMH] Abbottabad. Study Design: Descriptive study. Place and Duration of Study: Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department CMH Abbottabad, from Sep 2016 to Mar 2017
Material and Methods: Patients who developed postpartum haemorrhage after caesarean section [CS] and were treated with intrauterine balloon tamponade [IUBT] using a Foley catheter were identified by review of medical records. Patient's demographic data, obstetric history, type of CS, cause of haemorrhage and transfusion history were extracted. Data was entered, coded and analyzed in IBM SPSS Statistics software. Descriptive statistics were produced
Results: A total of 26 patients were included with mean age of 29.2 +/- 5.23 years. More than two-thirds of the patients were multi-gravida and around three-quarters were at full term. The most frequent cause for postpartum haemorrhage [PPH] was placenta previa major. In 25 of the 26 [96.1%] patients the procedure was successful in stopping bleeding. There were no adverse effects related to the procedure
Conclusion: We found that IUBT with an inexpensive Foley catheter is likely to be effective in most cases of PPH associated with caesarean section, without causing additional adverse events