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Abruptio placentae (comparison with placenta praevia)

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

These comparisons are generalisations for each condition. Obviously specific cases may vary in terms of the clinical features that occur.

  • pain
    • abruption - constant
    • placenta praevia - painless
  • obstetric shock
    • abruption - the actual amount of bleeding may be far in excess of vaginal loss
    • placenta praevia - obsetric shock in proportion to amount of vaginal loss
  • uterus
    • abruption - uterus is tender and tense
    • placenta praevia - uterus is non-tender
  • fetus
    • abruption - normal presentation and lie
    • placenta praevia - may have abnormal presentation and/ or lie
  • fetal heart
    • abruption - fetal heart distressed/absent
    • placenta praevia - in general, fetal heart normal
  • associated problems:
    • abruption - may be a complication of pre-eclampsia, may cause disseminated intravascular coagulation
    • placenta praevia - small antepartum haemorrhage may occur before larger bleed

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