Precesarean Prophylactic Balloon Catheters for Suspected Placenta Accreta: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To examine the effect of prophylactic balloon catheters on bleeding morbidity among women with a prenatal diagnosis of placenta accreta.

Methods: In a randomized trial, women with a prenatal diagnosis of placenta accreta were randomized to either preoperative prophylactic balloon catheters (intervention group) or to a control group. Other than placement of the prophylactic balloon catheters in the anterior division of the internal iliac arteries, the same multidisciplinary approach was used in both groups.

[Employing a balloon catheter for occlusion and/or embolization of the pelvic vasculature as an adjuvant therapy in cases of abnormal placentation].

Placenta accreta is a relatively rare event, in which the placenta is abnormally implanted into the uterine myometrium. The most significant complication of abnormal placentation is bleeding, mainly during labor. The bleeding increases especially when manual lysis of the placenta is attempted.