Conservative Management as an Alternative to Hysterectomy for Placenta Accreta Spectrum: a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) is an extremely morbid and increasingly common pregnancy condition that often results in massive obstetric hemorrhage. The standard treatment in the United States is hysterectomy, but this treatment is complex, morbid, and costly. A promising alternative for PAS treatment is conservative in situ management (CM), a strategy in which the placenta is left in the uterus. Unfortunately, there are insufficient data available to compare outcomes of these two treatments because past studies are limited by non-randomized study designs, minimal inclusion of patient values in making treatment decisions, and nominal consideration of economic barriers to care. A large clinical trial comparing PAS treatments is needed. But there are key logistic barriers to an adequately powered trial, including questions of whether patients will enroll and adhere to randomization allocation. This pilot trial will evaluate the feasibility of randomizing patients to CM versus hysterectomy for PAS.

While pilot studies cannot make final assessments of safety and efficacy between interventions, safety and efficacy will be monitored, including those related to hemorrhage, transfusion, infection and re-operation.