Retained Placenta Study : Part Two
Research type
Research Study
Full title
RETAINED PLACENTA: The diagnostic role of ultrasound A Prospective Study in Liverpool of the diagnostic role of ultrasound amongst women with retained placentas
IRAS ID
171504
Contact name
Achier Deng Akol
Contact email
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
UoL001134, University of Liverpool Sponsorship Reference
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 31 days
Research summary
In the UK, a placenta is considered retained if is not delivered within 30 minutes of active management and 60 minutes of expectant management of the third stage of labour (NICE, 2014). If a retained placenta (RP) is not treated, it may lead to maternal death due to postpartum haemorrhage (blood loss) or sepsis. Currently, its standard treatment is manual removal of placenta. This is associated with anaesthetic and surgical risks compared to medical alternatives. Unfortunately these medical alternatives are not well investigated. This is partly because of current inability to rapidly and accurately diagnose the various forms of retained placenta prior to theatre on the labour ward. This study will seek to determine whether the types of RP can be diagnosed prior to surgery and whether the type is important.
Initially it is important to determine whether the three types of retained placenta are distinct clinical entities – do they differ in pathology only, or are the aetiological factors (causes) and outcomes also different?
The next step will be to establish whether ultrasound can be used to complement clinical findings and rapidly and accurately diagnose the 3 types of retained placenta preoperatively (prior to opeartion). This will be explored in this study.
Hence, a prospective cohort study is proposed to examine the diagnostic role of ultrasound amongst Liverpool women with various forms of retained placenta. The data for this will be collected at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital from a cohort of women with retained placenta. Then clinical diagnosis of types of retained placenta will be compared and contrasted with ultrasound and Doppler diagnosis in the same cohort.
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NW/0484
Date of REC Opinion
6 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion