Clinical outcomes of prophylactic compression sutures for treatment of uterine atony during the cesarean delivery of twins

Abstract Introduction : Twin pregnancy has a high risk for developing uterine atony (UA). This study aimed to evaluate efficacy and clinical outcomes of prophylactic compression sutures to treat UA during the twin cesarean section (CS). Materials and Methods : All patient records of twin pregnancies in a large maternity hospital in South Korea between January 2013 and June 2018 were reviewed. Patients with monochorionic monoamniotic twins, fetal loss of one or both fetus before 20 gestational weeks, twins delivered prior to 24 gestational weeks, and patients who were delivered twins vaginally were excluded from data analysis. In total, 953 women were eligible for data analysis. Results : Of the 953 patients, compression sutures were applied to 147 cases refractory to uterine massage and uterotonics. Of 147, two patients (1.4%) proceeded to additional uterine artery ligation to achieve hemostasis, yielding a success rate of 98.6%. The rate of transfusion after the first 24 hours of delivery in the suture group was not significantly different from that in the non-suture group, suggesting that both groups achieved hemostasis at an equal rate after the first 24 hours of delivery. The difference in the operation time between the two groups was only 8.5 minutes. The rate of subsequent pregnancy among the patients who received compression sutures was 44.4%. Conclusions : Overall, our findings suggest that with early and fast implementation of compression sutures, UA can be treated in the setting of twin cesarean delivery without significantly increasing maternal morbidity.