Uterus-preserving surgical management of placenta accreta spectrum disorder: a large retrospective study

Background The two-child policy implemented in China resulted in a surge of high-risk pregnancies among advanced maternal aged women and presented a window of opportunity to identify a large number of placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) cases, which often invoke severe blood loss and hysterectomy. We thus had an opportunity to evaluate the surgical outcomes of a unique conservative PAS management strategy for uterus preservation, and the impacts of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in PAS surgical planning. Methods Cross-sectional study, comparing the outcomes of a new uterine artery ligation combined with clover suturing technique (UAL + CST) with the existing conservative surgical approaches in a maternal public hospital with an annual birth of more than 20,000 neonates among all placenta previa cases suspecting of PAS between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2018. Results From a total of 89,397 live births, we identified 210 PAS cases from 400 singleton pregnancies with placenta previa. Aside from 2 self-requested natural births (low-lying placenta), all PAS cases had safe cesarean deliveries without any total hysterectomy. Compared with the existing approaches, the evaluated UAL + CST had a significant reduction in intraoperative blood loss (beta=-312 ml, P <.001), RBC transfusion (beta=-1.08 unit, P =.001), but required more surgery time (beta = 16.43 min, P =.01). MRI-measured placenta thickness, when above 50 mm, can increase blood loss (beta = 315 ml, P =.01), RBC transfusion (beta = 1.28 unit, P =.01), surgery time (beta = 48.84 min, P <.001) and hospital stay (beta = 2.58 day, P <.001). A majority of percreta patients resumed normal menstrual cycle within 12 months with normal menstrual fluid volume, without abnormal urination or defecation. Conclusions A conservative surgical management approach of UAL + CST for PAS is safe and effective with a low complication rate. MRI might be useful for planning PAS surgery.