A 19-year-old woman, who developed an unusual complication after childbirth such as hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets (HELLP) syndrome, met her newborn almost a month later after undergoing treatment at the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital (TNGMSSH).
The woman had a pre-term delivery at 32 weeks of pregnancy on March 10 in a private hospital in Salem. As she developed bleeding post-delivery, she was shifted to the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital. She was treated for postpartum haemorrhage.
She underwent multiple blood transfusions — more than 20 units of blood due to sudden drop in haemoglobin level. She had melena (black tarry stools). An upper GI endoscopy showed that there was bleeding from the upper small bowel. A CT angiogram found that she had active arterial bleeding from the branches from the hepatic artery, a press release said.
After being admitted for nearly 25 days at the hospital, she was referred to TNGMSSH. She was diagnosed with HELLP syndrome. “This was an unusual complication following pregnancy. Her haemoglobin level dropped to 3 gm/dL, while the normal level for women is 12 to 15 gm/dL,” A.L. Periakaruppan, interventional radiologist, TNGMSSH, said.
A team of interventional radiologists of TNGMSSH performed an emergency percutaneous embolisation. She underwent emergency endovascular embolisation of the gastrointestinal bleeder using multiple coils and glue, the release said.
“This helped to arrest the bleeding gradually. She was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, and was happy that she could return to her baby after nearly a month,” V. Anand Kumar, nodal officer, TNGMSSH, said. The procedure was covered under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme.
