A 20-year-old primiparous woman who delivered vaginally in a private hospital 5 h ago was referred to our institute as a case of ruptured uterus. She was very pale and tachycardic with well-contracted uterus of 18-week size but had a cervical tear extending up to the left fornix. Examination under anaesthesia showed colporrhexis of posterior vaginal wall with intestines at the site of colporrhexis. Emergency laparotomy confirmed the above findings and also revealed intestinal gangrene involving more than 10 cm. Repair of colporrhexis, cervical tear and resection and anastomosis of small intestines was carried out. She gave a history of administration of five doses of vaginal misoprostal during labour and fundal pressure at the time of delivery. Literature review revealed that vaginal misoprostal can cause overgrowth of clostridial organisms by decreasing the macrophage function and thus can lead to developmental gangrene of reproductive tract and gastrointestinal tract.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.