Maternal obesity and major intraoperative complications during cesarean delivery

Case report: Maternal cardiac arrest at 12 hours postpartum

Maternal cardiac arrest is a rare occurrence. In this case report, we present a detailed account of a 37-year-old pregnant woman with preeclampsia with severe features who underwent cesarean delivery. The patient experienced dyspnea and hypoxia at 12 hours postpartum, leading to cardiac arrest in the maternity ward. Advanced cardiac life support measures, including 15 minutes of chest compressions, were performed until spontaneous circulation was restored. This study explores the underlying factors contributing to maternal cardiac arrest during the postpartum period. Additionally, it highlights the effective strategies employed by our multidisciplinary team in managing and resolving this critical medical event.

Comparison of perioperative outcomes and anesthetic-related complications of morbidly obese and super-obese parturients delivering by cesarean section

OBJECTIVE

To compare the perioperative outcomes and anesthetic-related complications of morbidly obese and super-obese parturients delivering by cesarean section.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of 6 years of data was performed. Exclusions were cases with gestational ages <24 weeks, placenta accreta spectrum, polyhydramnios, or multiple gestations.

RESULTS

The study included 494 patients whose body mass index (BMI) exceeded 40 kg/m² at delivery. Of these, 469 were morbidly obese (BMI 40-49.9; mean, 42.9 ± 2.4), and 25 were super obese (BMI >50; mean, 54.5 ± 4.2). Twenty-four (5.1%) morbidly obese women received general anesthesia. The other 445 patients (94.9%) in the morbid obesity group underwent cesarean delivery under regional anesthesia; however, some (2.2%; 10/445) received general anesthesia after regional anesthesia failed. In the super-obesity group, 23 patients (92.0%) received regional anesthesia, while two patients (8.0%) received general anesthesia. There were no cases of pulmonary aspiration, maternal deaths, or difficult or failed intubation. There was one episode of cardiac arrest in a patient with a BMI of 47.9. Among the morbidly obese and super-obese women given regional anesthesia, the super-obese patients had significantly greater volumes of ephedrine and norepinephrine consumption (p = 0.027 and 0.030), intravenous fluids (p = 0.006), and bleeding during surgery (p = 0.017). They also had more hypotensive episodes (p = 0.038). The two groups' incidences of neonatal birth asphyxia, postpartum hemorrhage, blood transfusion, and uterine atony did not differ significantly. The lengths of stay in the hospital were also comparable.

CONCLUSIONS

Among the women receiving regional anesthesia, the super-obese parturients had greater intraoperative bleeding, a higher proportion of hypotensive episodes, and a greater vasopressor requirement than the morbidly obese parturients. Anesthesiologists must prepare for the adverse perioperative events that such women risk experiencing during a delivery by cesarean section.

www.clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT04657692.

Cesarean Birth Morbidity among Women with SARS-CoV-2

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to compare maternal outcomes of women with and without severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections who underwent cesarean births.

STUDY DESIGN

This was a matched cohort study of pregnant women who had a cesarean birth between March 15, 2020, and May 20, 2020. Cases included women who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. For every case, two patients who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 were matched by maternal age, gestational age, body mass index, primary or repeat cesarean birth, and whether the procedure was scheduled or unscheduled. We compared rates of adverse postcesarean complications (intraoperative bladder or bowel injury, estimated blood loss more than or equal to 1,000 mL, hemoglobin drop more than 3 g/dL, hematocrit drop more than 10%, need for blood transfusion, need for hysterectomy, maternal intensive care unit admission, postoperative fever, and development of surgical site infection), with the primary outcome being a composite of those outcomes. We also assessed duration of postoperative stay. Fisher's exact tests were performed to compare the primary outcome between both groups.

RESULTS

Between March and May 2020, 202 women who subsequently underwent cesarean birth were tested for SARS-CoV-2. Of those 202, 43 (21.3%) patients were positive. They were matched to 86 patients who tested negative. There was no significant difference in the rate of composite adverse surgical outcomes between the groups (SARS-CoV-2 infected 27.9%, SARS-CoV-2 uninfected 25.6%; p = 0.833). There was a higher rate of postoperative fevers (20.9 vs. 5.8%; p = 0.015), but that did not result in a longer length of stay (p = 0.302).

CONCLUSION

Pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 who underwent a cesarean birth did not have an increased risk of adverse surgical outcomes, other than fever, compared with pregnant women without SARS-CoV-2.

KEY POINTS

· Women with SARS-CoV-2 had more postoperative fevers.. · Length of stay did not differ based on SARS-CoV-2 status.. · Composite postoperative outcome did not differ based on SARS-CoV-2 status..

Medical and obstetric comorbidities and delivery outcomes in overweight and obese parturients: a retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND

Research on obesity in women of reproductive age is heterogeneous in gestational age and body mass index (BMI) classification and focused mostly on pregnancy-related rather than medical comorbidities. We studied the prevalences of pre-pregnancy BMI, chronic maternal and obstetric comorbidities, and delivery outcomes.

METHODS

Retrospective analysis of real-time data collected during deliveries in a single tertiary medical center. Pre-pregnancy BMI was classified into seven groups (kg/m²): underweight (BMI < 18.5), normal weight 1 (18.5 ≤ BMI < 22.5), normal weight 2 (22.5 ≤ BMI < 25.0), overweight 1 (25.0 ≤ BMI < 27.5), overweight 2 (27.5 ≤ BMI < 30.0), obese (30.0 ≤ BMI < 35.0), and morbidly obese (BMI ≥ 35.0). Data were collected on maternal demographics, chronic medical and obstetric comorbidities, and delivery outcomes.

RESULTS

Included were 13,726 women aged 18-50 years, with a gestational age of 24^0/7-41^6/7 weeks. Pre-pregnancy weights were 61.4% normal, 19.8% overweight, 7.6% obese, and 3.3% morbidly obese. Smoking was more prevalent among morbidly obese than among normal weight women. Obese and morbidly obese women were older and had more diabetes mellitus, hypertension, preeclampsia/eclampsia, and prior cesarean deliveries than normal weight parturients. Obese and morbidly obese women were also less likely to have a non-spontaneous conception, enter labor spontaneously (observed in the full study population and in a subgroup of term parturients), and were more likely to undergo cesarean rather than vaginal delivery. Subgroup analysis of primiparous women yielded similar results.

CONCLUSIONS

We identified a potential association between pre-pregnancy obesity and morbid obesity and higher rates of obstetric comorbidities, less natural conception and spontaneous labor, and more cesarean deliveries and adverse delivery outcomes. It remains to be seen if these findings remain after adjustment and whether they are related to obesity, treatment, or both.

Induction of labour at 39 weeks versus expectant management in low-risk obese women: study protocol for a randomised controlled study

INTRODUCTION

Obesity is associated with many pregnancy complications, including both fetal macrosomia and prolonged labour. As a result, there is often also an increased risk of caesarean section. In other settings, labour induction near to term reduces adverse outcomes such as stillbirth and birth injury, without causing more caesarean deliveries. It has been suggested that induction will reduce adverse events in this setting too, but there have been no trials and the effect on caesarean section is unknown. The objective of this study is to compare induction of labour in gestational week 39 with expectant management on the risk of caesarean section in women with body mass index ≥30 kg/m².

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

An open label randomised controlled multicentre trial are conducted at Danish delivery departments with an in-house neonatal intensive care unit. Recruitment started October 2020. A total of 1900 women with a prepregnancy body mass index ≥30 kg/m² are randomised in a 1:1 ratio to either labour induction at 39 weeks and 0 to 3 days of gestation or to expectant management; that is, waiting for spontaneous labour onset or induction if medically indicated. The primary outcome is caesarean section. Data will be analysed according to intention-to-treat.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The Central Denmark Region Committee on Biomedical Research Ethics approved the study. The study is conducted in accordance with the ethical principles outlined in the latest version of the 'Declaration of Helsinki' and the 'Guideline for Good Clinical Practice' related to experiments on humans. The trial findings will be disseminated to participants, clinicians, commissioning groups and via peer-reviewed publications.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT04603859.

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Background

We aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of surgical site infection (SSI) after cesarean delivery (CD) in a rural area in China.

Methods

We identified 155 patients with incisional and organ/space SSIs by International Classification of Disease codes and matched them with 465 patients (controls) in a time-matched retrospective quality assurance analysis. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the risk factors for SSI: the work-years of providers, the number of antenatal care (ANC) visits, CD after labor, positive discharge culture, postoperative C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and fever.

Results

and discussion: During the study, 155 women with SSI were identified among the 8640 patients who delivered by CD. The incidence of SSIs was 179 per 10 000patients (95%CI: 151–207 per 10 000 patients). The total duration of hospitalization in patients with SSI was 14.49 ± 8.68 days compared with 7.96 ± 2.35 days in patients with no SSI (P < 0.01). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the work-years of providers (odds ratio [OR] = 3.729, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.463–9.501, p = 0.006), irregular ANC visits (OR = 3.245, 95% CI: 1.264–8.329, p = 0.028), CD after labor (OR = 2.545, 95% CI: 0.935–6.926, p = 0.020), postoperative CRP level (OR = 2.545, 95% CI: 0.935–6.926, p = 0.016) and a positive discharge culture (OR = 2.954, 95% CI: 0.305–28.643, p = 0.019) were positively associated with SSI. However, the rates of maternal request (OR = 0.186, 95% CI: 0.065–0.535, p = 0.002) and postoperative fever (OR = 0.208, 95% CI: 0.087–0.494, p = 0.001) were negatively related to SSI.

Conclusions

Special attentions should be paid to CD patients who had irregular ANC visits, attempted labor, a positive discharge culture, higher CRP levels and fever after surgery, who had a greater risk of SSI.

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The incidence of SSIs was 179 per 10 000 patients (95%CI: 151–207).

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Risk factors of SSIs included: irregular ANC visits, a positive discharge culture.

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Higher CRP levels and fever after surgery had a greater risk of SSI.

Optimizing Term Delivery and Mode of Delivery

Full-term deliveries are defined as occurring between 39 weeks and 40 weeks and 6 days. Because contemporary research suggests improved outcomes with delivery in the term period compared with the early term period, nonindicated delivery should be pursued no earlier than 39 weeks. There are, however, multiple medical, obstetric, and fetal indications for delivery before 39 weeks, and the obstetric provider must weigh the risks and benefits of delivery versus expectant management on both the mother and fetus. This review serves to provide a basic framework of evidentiary support toward optimizing the term delivery.

Maternal weight gain and neonatal outcomes in women with class III obesity

Objective: Obesity in the USA continues to be a prominent medical and public health concern. Due to increasing rates of maternal obesity, the current Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines recommend 11-20 pounds of total weight gain during pregnancy in women with a BMI ≥30 kg/m². The impact of maternal obesity on adverse perinatal outcomes has been well documented however, there is minimal data on the effect of gestational weight gain on neonatal outcomes. In this study, we assessed the association between gestational weight gain (GWG) and neonatal outcomes at term in women with class III obesity.Study design: A retrospective cohort of women delivering at a tertiary care institution between July 2013 and December 2017 with a first-trimester baseline BMI ≥40 kg/m² was studied. Pregnancies complicated by multiple gestations, preterm delivery, fetal anomalies, intrauterine fetal demise or with missing data were excluded. The primary outcome was a composite of adverse neonatal outcomes including 5 min Apgar <7, neonatal intubation, grade 3 or 4 intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), confirmed neonatal sepsis or Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) admission. Secondary outcomes included individual components of composite and NICU admission for >7 days. Demographic, pregnancy complications & delivery characteristics of women who gained more than IOM guidelines (>20 lbs.) were compared to women who gained at or less than IOM guidelines (≤20 lbs.) using bivariate statistics. Stepwise backward regression was used to estimate the odds of outcomes as appropriate.Results: Of 374 women included, 144 (39.5%) gained more than guidelines. Women who gained above IOM recommendations were less likely to be multiparous and use tobacco. Additional demographic, obstetric and delivery characteristics, including BMI at the entry to care, did not differ. The neonatal composite occurred in 30 (8.0%) of all neonates; corresponding to 11.1% of women who gained more than IOM recommendations and 6.1% of those who gained at or below recommendations (p = .12, OR = 1.71, 95%CI 0.74-3.96). Additionally, neonates born to women gaining more than IOM recommendations were more likely to be admitted to the NICU (10.4 vs. 4.3%, p = .03) and have a NICU length of stay >7 days (6.9 vs. 2.2%, p = .03). When adjusted for mode of delivery, delivery BMI, tobacco use, and chorioamnionitis, women who gained more were not more likely to have an adverse neonatal outcome (1.54, 95%CI 0.62-3.80), they were 3.6 times more likely to have a neonate admitted to the NICU for more than 7 days (95%CI 1.00-13.42).Conclusions: In women with class III obesity, excess gestational weight gain was associated with increased odds of NICU stay >7 days, with trends toward increased NICU admission risk, further emphasizing the importance of appropriate weight gain counseling in this population at risk.

Challenges and complications of maternal obesity in pregnancy

The prevalence of obesity and obesity-related health problems is increasing worldwide, especially among woman and man of reproductive age where obesity is designated as one of the most important global health threats in 21st century. Pregnancy in obese woman is considered as a high-risk pregnancy. Pre-pregnancy obesity and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) are distinct risk factors with differing associated adverse outcomes, and they could also carry a cumulative negative impact on pregnancy course. Pre-pregnancy obesity is the anthropometric parameter most strongly correlated with perinatal complications. Maternal complications following obesity include antepartum, intrapartum and postpartum complications, such as pregnancy related hypertension, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, preterm birth, venous thromboembolism, labor dystocia, labor induction, instrumental and cesarean delivery. Fetal complications related to maternal obesity might include increased prevalence of congenital anomalies, growth abnormalities, prematurity and stillbirth. Prepregnancy overweight and obesity is a potentially modifiable risk factor compromising pregnancy outcome. Among all complications that might arise during pregnancy and that could not be predicted and therefore prevented, pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity management control can significantly reduce potential pregnancy complications. Pre-conceptual counseling should provide an awareness of this arising medical condition in a timely manner and provide risk reduction of complications following pre-pregnancy obesity and excessive GWG.