PREVIOUS CESAREAN SECTION AND ADVERSE MATERNAL OUTCOMES: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY IN AN OBSTETRIC EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the association between a previous cesarean section and the occurrence of adverse maternal outcomes in a reference obstetric emergency department in Uberlândia, MG, Brazil, in 2024. This is an observational, retrospective, and quantitative study conducted with 180 medical records of pregnant and postpartum women. Fisher's exact test was applied to evaluate the association between surgical history and clinical outcomes. The results showed that 34.4% of the sample had a previous cesarean section. Patients with this history had a lower rate of discharge without complications (67.7% versus 86.4% in the group without the history) and a higher incidence of minor complications (22.6% versus 5.9%). There was a statistically significant association between previous cesarean section and adverse maternal outcomes (p = 0.003; V = 0.254). In addition, a severe documentary failure was observed, with maternal education recorded as "ignored" in 50.56% of the records. In conclusion, a history of previous cesarean section acts as a significant clinical determinant for adverse outcomes in the emergency department setting. It is imperative to restructure the triage process for immediate identification of surgical history and to improve the completeness of institutional medical records.