Songklanagarind Hospital received the first disease-specific accreditation (DSC) in Thailand for placenta accreta treatment
“People may think that caesarean section should
not cause any complications, but in fact it does. During caesarean section,
patients may hemorrhage more than during natural delivery, and in future
pregnancies, the patient may experience severe complications, such as placenta
accreta, associated with an increased risk of severe bleeding. In that case,
hysterectomy is required to control the life-threatening bleeding.”
Assoc. Prof. Savitree Pranpanus, MD, Maternal and
Fetal Medicine Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of
Medicine, Head of the PSU PAS Team, explained that placenta accreta is the
abnormal adhesion of the placenta to the uterus, particularly in the uterine
muscle layer. This condition may occur in pregnancy after delivery. Surgical
removal of the embedded placenta may cause the patient to bleed excessively,
and it may result in shock and death. The frequency of cesarean sections in a
patient may correlate with a higher chance of placenta accreta.
The condition is increasingly prevalent, nearly
twenty times that of the past, due to the increasing administration of
c-sections. Songklanagarind Hospital found that placenta accreta occurs at a
rate of one in a hundred deliveries. As the only hospital in the south that
volunteers to treat patients with this condition, Songklanagarind Hospital
receives placenta accreta referrals from 14 southern provinces, contributing to
the high number of patients at the facility.
To manage these issues, a team was organized and
a center was established in 2016 to provide multidisciplinary patient care, and
to develop periodical guidelines for diagnosis, treatment, and postoperative
care.
To ensure they provide the most effective
treatment process, the hospital applied for certification of Disease Specific
Standard (DSC). To achieve certification, medical teams continually improve
their work methods, provide clear and effective treatment patterns, and improve
teamwork. Patients have confidence that they receive the best standard
treatment. As a result, feedback from patients and networking hospitals was
positive, and Songklanagarind Hospital has become the first hospital in
Thailand with disease-specific standard accreditation for placenta accreta
care, by the Healthcare Accreditation Institute.
