We performed an impact study on the introduction of routine placement of internal iliac artery balloon catheters for the management of haemorrhage during caesarean section in women with placenta accreta. We identified 11 women, with prenatally diagnosed placenta accreta/increta/percreta before this change in practice, who acted as controls, and 30 women who had iliac artery balloons placed. The balloons were inflated in 27 cases. The median (IQR [range]) intra-operative blood loss was 1100 (800-2600 [500-6000]) ml in controls, compared with 1000 (600-2513 [400-15000]) ml in women with iliac artery balloons (p = 0.64). Six (54%) controls received intra-operative blood transfusion compared with 14 (47%) women with iliac artery balloons (p = 0.66). Caesarean hysterectomy was performed in 3 (27.3%) controls and 13 (43.3%) women with iliac artery balloons (p = 0.48). Balloon catheter insertion was associated with a shortened postoperative hospital stay, 6 (5-7 [4-12] days in controls vs. 5 (4-6 [3-10]) in the iliac artery balloon group (p = 0.033). General anaesthesia was used in six (54%) controls, but all women with iliac artery balloons. This study demonstrates that prophylactic balloon occlusion of the internal iliac arteries did not reduce intra-operative haemorrhage or caesarean hysterectomy in women with placenta accreta undergoing caesarean section. In addition, it has a significant impact on the choice of anaesthetic technique.

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(Anaesthesia. 2017;72:853–858) Effective prenatal diagnosis of placenta accreta using ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging has aided in the development of multidisciplinary management strategies for these patients, with the goal of obtaining the best outcomes for both the mother and neonate. Although cesarean hysterectomy is the predominant management technique chosen by obstetricians for abnormal placentation, massive hemorrhage is still relatively common and can lead to increased maternal morbidity and mortality. The goal of this study was to determine the efficacy of prophylactic placement of internal iliac artery balloon catheters for reducing hemorrhage and transfusion requirements in women with placenta accreta undergoing cesarean section.

A 24-year-old woman at 29 weeks' gestation, and with psychiatric symptoms, was admitted to hospital and diagnosed as having anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis. After 4 weeks of immunotherapy with little effect, an emergency cesarean section was performed at 33 weeks gestation under general anesthesia. The parturient was intubated after rapid sequence induction with etomidate, remifentanil and succinylcholine. Anesthesia was maintained with sevoflurane and remifentanil. Except for low weight, the infant was normal at birth. The surgery went uneventfully and teratoma or other masses were not found. The parturient was sent to ICU for further treatment without extubation after surgery. She was extubated on the 6th day after surgery and was transferred to the general ward of the neurology department to control her seizures. After the seizures were controlled, she was discharged home on the 80th postoperative day and her neurological symptoms had slowly improved half a year later. This case report presents the anesthetic considerations in patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis undergoing cesarean section.

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