EFFECTIVENESS OF HYPOGASTRIC ARTERY LIGATION IN OBSTETRIC HEMORRHAGE AND ITS EFFECT ON FERTILITY

Abstract

Aim: In this study, we aimed to examine the effectiveness of hypogastric artery ligation method in obstetrichemorrhage and its effects on fertility.Patients and Methods: Sixty-two patients who underwent bilateral hypogastric artery ligation (HAL) dueto obstetric bleeding at Kocaeli Derince Training and Research Hospital between November 1, 2011 andNovember 1, 2016 were retrospectively evaluated.Results: In patients with postpartum hemorrhage, bleeding was controlled with HAL in 47 (84%) of them,while hysterectomy was performed in addition to HAL in 9 (16%) patients. While 17 patients gave consentfor bilateral tubal ligation before the operation, none were in the hysterectomy group. Postoperative followup information was obtained for 31 of the remaining 36 patients. It was observed that 7 of the patients hadan intrauterine device inserted, 3 gave birth in our center, 18 had regular menstrual periods, and 3 hadhysteroscopy due to irregular menstrual periods, which revealed no pathology.Conclusion: HAL is an important procedure used as the last step in obstetric bleeding, especially infertility-sparing surgery, and it can be used safely by experienced surgeons. More emphasis should beplaced on this surgical method in today's gynecology and obstetrics residency training process.