FAIRFAX, Va. (March 16, 2021) – Many women who suffer major postpartum bleeding undergo hysterectomies, rather than uterine artery embolization (UAE), despite evidence that the UAE leads to a reduction in hospital stays and costs, and provides an opportunity to maintain fertility, according to a new study presented at the Radiation Society of Intervention Scientific Annual Meeting.
“Giving birth is increasingly dangerous for women in the U.S., and postpartum hemorrhage is a leading cause of childbirth-related loss of life,” said Janice M. Newsome, MD, FSIR, associate professor, Department of Radiation and Imaging Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine and lead author of the study. “All patients should have regular access to treatment that is safer, more accessible and has the potential to continue with children.”
In a study of nearly 10 million hospital births between 2005 and 2017, researchers found that transfusion was the most common intervention, but removal of the uterus through hysterectomy was 60% more common to prevent miscarriage. UAE bleeding regulation, a minimally invasive procedure that uses real-time imaging to release tiny particles in the uterine artery to control the swelling. Hysterectomy was twice as common as embolization in Hispanic patients, and also more common in rural and unaffiliated urban hospitals, in the south and among Medicaid and self-paid patients.
Long hospital stays longer than 14 days were twice as likely in patients with hysterectomies and the procedure resulted in $ 18,000 higher hospital costs.
“Postpartum hemorrhage can occur quickly, and effective treatment options should be readily available to all women with a child in the United States,” Newsome said. “For hospitals that have IR services available, this can be achieved by creating a concrete care plan for new mothers who are at increased risk of bleeding at childbirth.”
Newsome Envisions creates postpartum hemorrhage response teams, similar to other trauma teams, that would train together and develop response protocols, so that they can identify postpartum hemorrhage risk factors and ensure the right staff available for delivery to respond quickly and save mothers ’lives before they reach the point of needing radical surgery.
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Researchers used an Adult Patient Sample database of the Healthcare Cost and Use Project, which tracks all hospital admissions in the United States, and examined the results of a significant postpartum hemorrhage, which occurred in 3.1 percent of live births.
Summary 41: Use and Comparative Efficacy of Hysterectomy vs Uterine Artery Embolization for Clinically Important Postpartum Hemorrhage: A National Patient Sample Study. L. Arndt, J. Newsome, M. Guo, S. Lee, K. Garcia-Reyes, R. Duszak Jr., J. Gichoya, N. Kokabi. Scientific Annual Meeting, March 20-26, 2021. This summary can be found at sirmeeting.org after the embargo.
About the Intervention Radiation Society
The Interventional Radiation Association is a non-profit professional medical association representing more than 8,000 interventional radiation physicians, trainers, students, scientists and clinical assistants, dedicated to improving patient care through the infinite capabilities of image-driven. SIR members work in a variety of settings and at a variety of professional levels – from medical students and residents to university faculty and private practice physicians. Visit sirweb.org.
The Interventional Radiation Society is holding their Annual Scientific Meeting online March 20-26, 2021. Visit sirmeeting.org.
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