Laparoscopic treatment of post-cesarean section bladder flap hematoma: A feasible and safe approach

Abstract

Bladder-flap haematoma (BFH) is a puerperal complication after caesarean section; it consists of a blood collection between the bladder and the lower uterine segment, in the vesico-uterine space, and it results from bleeding at the uterine suture. Ten symptomatic women were hospitalized and underwent a laparoscopy performed by tumescence incision, bladder wall detachment from the vesico-uterine space, drainage of the fluid material inside the collection, washing of the haematoma site and peritoneal suturing. After seven days, the time it takes to develop a BFH after caesarean section, laparoscopically collected dates were, on average: Total laparoscopy time 31 min, intrasurgical blood loss 36.5 ml, two patients with a draining catheter in the pelvis, two women who developed post-operative urinary symptoms; the duration of hospital stay was 1.3 days. None of the women had complications during the post-dismissal follow-up, and no further therapeutic intervention was required. No clear, defined and standardized protocols exist for the clinical and surgical management of post-caesarean section BFH; the conservative laparoscopic approach proposed would offer women a potentially safe and feasible minimally invasive treatment, reserving hysterectomy for severe uterine necrosis, myometritis or abscess formations. These findings should be confirmed by large extensive trials.

Keywords::

• Laparoscopy
• bladder flap haematoma
• caesarean section
• minimally invasive treatment
• Retzius space

Disclosures

The authors have no disclosures to make.