OBJECTIVE: Postpartum hemorrhage remains the leading cause of maternal mortality in developing countries and a significant proportion of these cases are attributable to uterine atony. In contrast to the advances made in the treatment of postpartum hemorrhage, there has been few novel prophylactic agents. This study was undertaken to analyze the effectiveness of carbetocin compared to oxytocin for the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage, in the context of cesarean deliveries.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Major electronic databases were searched for randomized-controlled trials comparing carbetocin with oxytocin. Only trials involving cesarean deliveries were included. Non-randomized trials, non-cesarean deliveries, studies which did not directly compare carbetocin to oxytocin and studies which did not analyze the intended outcomes were excluded. Outcomes analysed were postpartum hemorrhage, additional use of uterotonic and transfusion requirement.
RESULTS: Seven studies involving 2012 patients were included in the meta-analysis. There was a significant reduction in the rates of postpartum hemorrhage (RR 0.79; 95% CI 0.66 to 0.94; p = 0.009), use of additional uterotonics (RR 0.57; 95% CI 0.49 to 0.65; p
* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.