Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Sep 16, 2021; 9(26): 7704-7716
Published online Sep 16, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i26.7704
Evaluation of the etiology and risk factors for maternal sepsis: A single center study in Guangzhou, China
Lin Lin, Lu-Wen Ren, Xue-Yuan Li, Wen Sun, Yan-Hong Chen, Jing-Si Chen, Dun-Jin Chen
Lin Lin, Lu-Wen Ren, Xue-Yuan Li, Wen Sun, Yan-Hong Chen, Dun-Jin Chen, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510150, Guangdong Province, China
Lin Lin, Lu-Wen Ren, Xue-Yuan Li, Wen Sun, Yan-Hong Chen, Jing-Si Chen, Dun-Jin Chen, Key Laboratories for Major Obstetric Diseases of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou 510150, Guangdong Province, China
Jing-Si Chen, Department of Fetal Medicine and Prenatal Diagnosis, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510150, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Lin L and Chen DJ conceived and designed the research; Lin L, Ren LW, Li XY and Chen YH collected data and conducted research; Lin L analyzed and interpreted data; Lin L wrote the initial paper; Lin L and Sun W revised the paper; Chen DJ and Chen JS had primary responsibility for final content; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81830045 and No. 82071652.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the ethics committee of the Third Affiliated Hospital of the Guangzhou Medical University. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated and analyzed during the present study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Dun-Jin Chen, MD, Director, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, No. 63 Duobao road, Liwan District, Guangzhou 510150, Guangdong Province, China. linlin19850000@163.com
Received: February 7, 2021
Peer-review started: February 7, 2021
First decision: May 11, 2021
Revised: May 19, 2021
Accepted: August 2, 2021
Article in press: August 2, 2021
Published online: September 16, 2021
Processing time: 214 Days and 18.3 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Globally, sepsis is the third leading cause of maternal mortality. China has relatively high rates of sepsis-related maternal morbidity and neonatal mortality. However, the risk factors for maternal sepsis in mainland China are not well-characterized.

Research motivation

We aimed to analyze the etiology of maternal sepsis and to identify the associated risk factors using the new definitions of sepsis and septic shock. The identified risk factors can be used to develop prediction models for early intervention.

Research objectives

To analyze the etiology of maternal sepsis and to identify the associated risk factors.

Research methods

Data of obstetric patients with infection who were admitted to the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University between January 2009 and June 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into the sepsis group and non-sepsis group based on the definition of sepsis. Patient characteristics, obstetric factors and duration of hospitalization were compared between the two groups. Risk factors for maternal sepsis were identified using multivariate logistic regression models.

Research results

The morbidity rate of maternal sepsis was 9.76/10000; the fatality rate in the sepsis group was 11.6%. Mode of admission, poor prenatal care, labor induction, cervical cerclage and first trimester and second trimester pregnancy were risk factors for maternal sepsis. Escherichia coli was the most common causative organism for maternal sepsis; the uterus was the most common site of infection.

Research conclusions

This study determined the incidence and fatality rate of sepsis in pregnant women and identified the risk factors for sepsis in infected pregnant women.

Research perspectives

The identified risk factors can be used to establish prediction models for early intervention against maternal sepsis.