Early Femoral Access by Acute Care Surgeons: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Prevent Maternal Exsanguination in Placenta Accreta Spectrum

Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) use has expanded to the obstetric condition of placenta accreta spectrum (PAS). Early reports of REBOA for PAS describe prophylactic catheter deployment. We developed a multidisciplinary approach to PAS, with early femoral artery access and selective REBOA deployment. We compared morbidity, mortality, and blood loss before and after implementation of our multidisciplinary protocol for PAS. Prior to, femoral access was obtained only emergently, and maternal death occurred in 2/3 cases (66%). Following protocol implementation, there was one maternal death (6%). There were no access-related complications. We have not yet needed to deploy the REBOA during PAS cases. In contrast to urgent hemorrhage control or prophylactic REBOA deployment, routine early femoral arterial access and selective REBOA deployment as part of a multidisciplinary team approach is a novel strategy for managing PAS. Our experience suggests most PAS cases do not require prophylactic REBOA deployment.