Carbetocin in Reducing Blood Loss during and after Cesarean Section

Abstract

ostpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is defined as blood loss more than 500 ml in vaginal delivery and 1,000 ml during cesarean section. PPH is a serious condition remaining the single main cause of maternal morbidity and mortality (Su et al., 2012). The most frequent cause of PPH is uterine atony, contributing up to 80 % of the PPH cases (Holleboom et al., 2013). The impact of PPH on maternal morbidity and mortality makes active management of the third stage of labour a critical key (Prendiville et al., 2000). It is therefore reasonable to advise routine administration of a uterotonic drug immediately after the baby has been delivered by cesarean section (Du et al., 2014; Oguz Orhan et al., 2014). The administration of a uterotonic medication soon after the delivery of the fetus is an essential part of the AMTSL (WHO, 2012) that is capable of decreasing the incidence of PPH by 40% (Peters and Duvekot, 2009; Jin et al., 2015). The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of carbetocin with that of oxytocin in reducing blood loss in patients undergoing elective CS under spinal anesthesia. The study included 80 pregnant women within age group 20_35 years old undergoing elective caesarean section under spinal anesthesia after 37 weeks of gestation, the patients were divided into 2 equal groups where 40 patients received single dose of 100 microgram carbetocin diluted in 10 ml normal saline, the other 40 patients received 20 units of oxytocin added