The Bakri balloon implementation during cesarean section without switching to the lithotomy position

Abstract

Bakri balloon implementations for the conservative management of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) have become more popular in the recent years. The procedure may be regarded as simple, however, it can become a challenging method considering an excessive bleeding patient where there is a race against time. In our daily practice we do not usually use the lithotomy position except for few conditions such as placenta previa, where the lithotomy position is necessary to apply a Bakri balloon during PPH during a cesarean section. Here we would like to present a woman with uterine atony and fundal placenta accreta bleeding, managed with the Bakri balloon without switching to the lithotomy position for the first time in the literature. The bleeding was evaluated successfully with this new method, however, a cesarean hysterectomy was necessary to achieve hemostasis despite the addition of a bilateral uterine artery ligation at the end. The decision to add a vessel ligation to the inflated Bakri balloon should be assessed carefully as uterine artery ligation may be time consuming due to effort of avoiding puncturing the balloon. On the other hand, internal illiac artery ligation may be more advantageous if the surgeon is experienced.