ABSTRACT
Objectives: Emergency
cesarean is performed, when a situation requires immediate action in order to
reduce the risk to mother and/or child, while urgent cesarean is done if a
non-life threatening but compromising situation occurs. The aim of the study
was to investigate the maternal and fetal outcome for emergency and urgent
cesarean. Study Design: A retrospective case-control study was performed; cases
underwent emergency cesarean section, while controls underwent urgent cesarean
section. We included 303 cases of women and 336 cases of children, and controls
were matched. Maternal and fetal outcome parameters for singleton and twin
pregnancies were investigated using the Wilcoxon test and the Chi-square-test.
Results: Maternal outcome: Higher blood
loss (cases: mean 383.12 ± 232.89, range 100 - 2500 vs. controls: 336.06 ±
129.19, range 100 - 1000, p =
0.008), hemorrhage (34 vs. 11, p < 0.001) and puerperal anemia (30 vs. 10, p
< 0.001). Neonatal outcome: One, five, and ten minutes Apgar levels and
umbilical cord pH values are lower for cases (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001,
respectively). Twins had lower five and ten minutes Apgar levels (p = 0.040 and
0.002), but higher umbilical cord pH values than singletons (p < 0.001). The
perinatal mortality among singletons was 3.8%, among twins 8.1%. For cases the
perinatal mortality among singletons was 5.7% and 17.14% for twins (control
group 1.41% and 2.63%, respectively). Conclusion: The maternal and fetal
outcome is poorer in emergency cesarean section. Especially the perinatal
mortality is high in emergency cesarean section, particular for twins.