[Peripartum hysterectomy. Report of eleven cases]

A series of hysterectomies performed during labor or shortly after delivery, all as emergencies is reported. The study covered the ten years 1982-1991, during which 65,488 deliveries resulted in infants with a birth weight of 500 g or more. There were no hysterectomies among the 21,998 primipara, the incidence in multipara being 1 per 3,954 deliveries. Five operations were performed for rupture of the uterus and six for cataclysmic bleeding. Seven of the 11 patients had history of caesarean section. In multipara, the existence of a caesarean scar multiplied the risk of emergency hysterectomy by a factor of 18. There were no maternal deaths but all patients required transfusion with more than 6 units of packed cells. These results emphasize the fact that a history of caesarean is the principal etiologic factor in patients experiencing complications of pregnancy which require emergency peri-partum hysterectomy.