Teaching Files - Placental Abruption
Take Home Points
is ultrasound good at diagnosing abruption?
- Not necessarily. The absence of findings of abruption on ultrasound does NOT exclude an abruption.
- Main differential of bleeding is abruption vs. previa
- So, if you don't see a previa, this increases likelihood of abruption
Difference between subchorionic hemorrhage and abruption
- Subchorionic hematoma is blood behind the membranes, NOT a retroplacental hematoma
- If you see a subchorionic hematoma, it almost certainly came from some sort of abruption along edge of placenta (marginal abruption)
What the report might look like
- When I m sent a case to “r/o abruption” my report usually says:
- No previa. No sonographic evidence of abruption. This does not exclude an abruption.