Comparison of severity-of-illness scores in critically ill obstetric patients: a 6-year retrospective cohort.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to evaluate the discrimination and calibration of mortality prediction of Simplified Acute Physiology Score 2, Simplified Acute Physiology Score 3, Mortality Probability Model II, and Mortality Probability Model III in peripartum women. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Rafael Calvo Maternity Hospital, a large teaching hospital in Cartagena (Colombia). PATIENTS: All obstetric patients admitted to the ICU from 2006 to 2011. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Seven hundred twenty-six obstetric critical care patients were included. All scores showed good discrimination (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve > 0.86). Simplified Acute Physiology Score 2, Simplified Acute Physiology Score 3, and Mortality Probability Model III inaccurately estimated mortality. The only mortality prediction score that showed good calibration through mortality ratio and Hosmer-Lemeshow test was Mortality Probability Model II. Mortality ratio for Mortality Probability Model II was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.60-1.25). Hosmer-Lemeshow test was not significant (p = 0.571). CONCLUSIONS: Simplified Acute Physiology Score 2 and Simplified Acute Physiology Score 3 overestimate mortality in obstetric critical care patients. Mortality Probability Model III was inadequately calibrated. Mortality Probability Model II showed good fit to predict mortality in a developing country setting. Future studies in developed and developing countries are needed to further confirm our findings.

The effect of guideline variations on the implementation of active management of the third stage of labor.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether healthcare providers performed active management of the third stage of labor (AMTSL) as defined by FIGO/ICM and WHO, and as described by the Cochrane Collaboration. METHODS: In a prospective observational study, a questionnaire regarding knowledge of AMTSL was administered to healthcare providers in the largest maternity teaching center in Colombia. It was subsequently observed whether and how the healthcare providers performed AMTSL in practice. The percentage of correct use of AMTSL was calculated. RESULTS: Healthcare providers indicated they knew what AMTSL was but disagreed on the timing of prophylactic oxytocin use. In total, 241 deliveries were observed. Oxytocin at varying doses and routes was used in 239 (99.2%) deliveries. In all deliveries, the umbilical cord was clamped early. In 49 (20.3%) deliveries, controlled cord traction was performed. Uterine massage was carried out in 213 (88.4%) deliveries. According to the FIGO/ICM and WHO definitions, and the Cochrane Collaboration description, correct use of AMTSL occurred in 0.8%, 0.0%, and 8.3%, of cases, respectively. CONCLUSION: Correct use of AMTSL is low at the largest maternity teaching center in Colombia. There is an urgent need for a single definition of AMTSL, which could be used globally for research, training, and scaling-up the performance of AMTSL.