Operative Technique and Experience of One Referral Center With Vaginal Cesarean Delivery

To report the experience of vaginal cesarean delivery and describe the surgical technique.

This is a retrospective case series from one referral center of patients who underwent vaginal cesarean delivery from 2000 to 2017, presenting a step-by-step operative technique with a video. The operative technique consists of: 1) development of a transvaginal bladder flap by dissecting the bladder off the cervix, thereby exposing the lower uterine segment; 2) making a vertical segment incision up to the highest part of the lower uterine segment, just below the muscular portion of the uterus; 3) extraction of the fetus; and 4) reconstruction of the lower uterine segment and vagina.

Seven patients with maternal indications for urgent premature delivery who underwent vaginal cesarean delivery were included. Indications were severe bleeding (n=3), severe previable preeclampsia (n=2), severe heart failure (n=1), and stroke (n=1). The average gestational age at delivery was 21 2/7 weeks (18 2/7-24 1/7 weeks); median fetal birth weight was 300 g (179-500 g). There were no intraoperative complications attributable to the procedure.

Vaginal cesarean delivery is a valuable technique for rapid fetal extraction of deceased or nonviable fetuses for severe maternal indications.