Evaluation of Antepartum Factors for Predicting the Risk of Emergency Cesarean Delivery in Pregnancies Complicated With Placenta Previa

Background: The optimal delivery timing for patients with placenta previa remains controversial in the literature. To reduce spontaneous vaginal bleeding rates, which occur increasingly with advancing gestational weeks, elective cesarean delivery is advocated between 36(0/7) and 37(6/7) weeks of gestation, but this clinical approach does not take into consideration numerous patient variables. Few papers identify the risk factors for emergency cesarean delivery in patients with placenta previa. An enhanced understanding of these variables could help with determining patients at high risk for emergency cesarean delivery and individualizing delivery date scheduling. This study sought to identify predictor variables associated with emergency cesarean delivery in pregnant patients with placenta previa in a tertiary referral hospital. We also investigated differences in maternal and perinatal outcomes between patients with placenta previa who underwent emergency vs planned cesarean delivery. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 208 singleton pregnancy patients who had a confirmed diagnosis of placenta previa at the time of delivery and who underwent cesarean delivery in our hospital beyond 24 weeks of gestation. To define risk factors of the outcome variable (emergency vs planned cesarean delivery), univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis and adjusted odds ratios with their confidence intervals were calculated. Results: Ninety-seven patients (46.6%) required emergency cesarean delivery, and 111 patients (53.4%) underwent planned cesarean delivery. Antepartum bleeding episode (37.1% and 20.7%, P=0.013) and first antepartum bleeding episode ≤28 weeks of gestation (36.1% and 14.4%, P<0.001) were significantly higher in the emergency group than the planned group. Antepartum bleeding episode (odds ratio [OR]=1.968, 95% CI 1.001-4.200, P=0.042), first antepartum bleeding episode ≤28 weeks of gestation (OR=2.750, 95% CI 1.315-5.748, P=0.007), and preoperative hemoglobin level (OR=0.713, 95% CI 0.595-0.854, P<0.001) were the independent predictors significantly associated with emergency cesarean delivery. Conclusion: Three factors—antepartum bleeding episode during pregnancy, first antepartum bleeding episode ≤28 weeks of gestation, and lower preoperative hemoglobin level—might be useful in predicting emergency cesarean delivery in pregnancies complicated with placenta previa.