Surgical management of postpartum haemorrhage: survey of French obstetricians

The aim of our study was to assess the theoretical and practical knowledge of French obstetricians about the surgical management of postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). Our study is a national anonymous self-administered survey. A total of 363 obstetricians responded to this questionnaire between December 2013 and April 2014. Questionnaire sent through email to all French obstetricians who are members of either of two federations of hospital-based obstetricians. Answers were collected until the end of June 2014. The main outcome measure was obstetricians' level of mastery of each surgical technique. The results were analysed descriptively (proportions). Only the 286 questionnaires fully completed were analysed; the complete response rate was 23% (286/1246). In all, 33% (95/286) of the responding obstetricians reported that they had not mastered sufficiently or even at all the technique for bilateral ligation of the uterine arteries, 37% (105/286) for uterine compression suture, 62% (178/286) for ligation of the internal iliac arteries, and 47% (134/286) for emergency peripartum hysterectomy. In all, 18% (52/286) of respondents stated that they had not mastered any of these techniques. Our study shows that a worrisome number of French obstetricians reported insufficient mastery of the surgical techniques for PPH management.