Intrauterine hematomas in the second and third trimesters associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes: a retrospective study

Abstract

Objective: To carry out a retrospective study of the clinical features of patients with intrauterine hematoma in the second and third trimesters, and discuss the risk factors for poor pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: A total of 398 patients who underwent routine examination in our hospital from January 2011 to December 2015 were classified into normal pregnancy (NP) group (N = 265) and adverse pregnancy (AP) group (N = 133), according to their pregnancy outcomes. Maternal clinical demographics, gestational age, location of hematoma, volume of hematoma, and accompanying contraction and vaginal bleeding were recorded.

Results: The average age of pregnant women in the NP and AP groups was 28.25 ± 4.06 and 29.5 ± 5.06 years, respectively (p = 0.007). Gestational age at first detection of hematoma was 15.11 ± 5.13 weeks in the NP group compared with 21.22 ± 8.25 weeks in the AP group (p < 0.001). In the AP group, the incidence of retroplacental hematoma (54.1%) and palpable contractions (62.8%) was significantly higher than in the NP group (25.7% and 12.1%, respectively; p < 0.01). However, similar maternal parity or history of delivery, volume of hematoma and incidence of vaginal bleeding were found.

Conclusion: Intrauterine hematoma in the second and third trimesters is a sign of pathological pregnancy, resulting in adverse outcomes. Maternal age, gestational age at first diagnosis, location of hematoma and accompanying contraction are risk factors for poor pregnancy outcomes.

Keywords:

• Intrauterine hematoma
• second and third trimester
• pregnancy complications

Declaration of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2014A030310408; 2014A030313189); The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central university (20120171110083); and Science and Technology Project of Guangdong Province (2015A020212016).