Background: Placental abruption is one of the major causes of antepartum haemorrhage with high propensity to cause maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality.
Objective: This study assessed the prevalence, risk factors and foeto-maternal outcomes of placental abruption at the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTH), South-East Nigeria.
Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study of all cases of placental abruption managed from 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2023 in the Labor ward of ESUT Teaching Hospital, Enugu State, Nigeria. Data were analysis with Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (IBM Chicago) version 28. Categorical variables were presented in frequencies and percentages while symmetrical continuous variables were presented using mean and standard deviations with 95% confidence intervals around the point estimates.
Results: Over the 5-year study period, 10,020 deliveries, and one hundred and seventy-one (171) cases of placental abruption were observed, giving the prevalence of placental abruption at 1.71% or 17.1per 1000 deliveries. The mean (SD) age and gestational age were 33.5 (±4.5) years and 37.9 (±2.3) weeks respectively. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (58%), abdominal trauma (15%), retro placental uterine masses (13%), premature rupture of membranes (12%) and previous history of placental abruption (2%) were the isolated risk factors to placental abruption. Three cases of maternal death (2%) occurred and increased operative delivery (74%) and blood transfusion (40%) were the commonest maternal complications while prematurity (38%) and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission (58%) were the fetal complications observed.
Conclusion: The prevalence of placental abruption in ESUTH is 1.7%; with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy being the most predisposing risk factor. Measures to prevent and effectively manage hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are advocated to change the burden of placental abruption.