Alternative management of placenta accreta

A 27-year-old lady presented at 32 weeks gestation complaining of shortness of breath, headache, palpitations and feeling generally unwell for 1 day. Her current pregnancy was complicated by major placenta praevia. Because she developed worsening symptoms of pre-eclampsia and raised blood pressure, a decision was made to deliver her by an elective Caesarean section. The Caesarean section was complicated by a morbidly adherent placenta. There was no plane of cleavage between the placenta and the uterine wall. She had severe haemorrhages of 2.5 l following delivery, and to stem the bleeding, a B-lynch suture was placed and a Rusch tamponade balloon was inserted to achieve haemostasis. Although her condition improved and she did not have any further bleeding, she developed infection 3 weeks later and had a hysterectomy. We present this case to demonstrate that balloon tamponade and B-lynch suture are valuable developments in management of obstetric haemorrhage due to placenta accreta.