Locked twins—remote from term: a case report

BACKGROUND: Locked twins is a rare and hazardous obstetric complication, which occurs in approximately 1:100 twin pregnancies. One of the known etiologic factors for locked twins is size of the twins. We report a case of chin-to-chin locked twins that occurred at gestational age of 30 weeks pus 6 days. A 27 years-old primigravida Oromo mother presented with a history of pushing down pain and passage of liquor of 6 hours duration at gestational age of 30 weeks plus 6 days. With a diagnosis of twin pregnancy (first twin non-vertex), abdominal delivery was decided in latent first stage of labor but mother refused caesarian delivery and she was allowed to labor with the hope of achieving a vaginal delivery. In second stage, interlocking twin was encountered and a low vertical cesarean section was done to effect delivery of twins without the need to decapitate the first twin. CONCLUSION: Locked twin is a rare obstetric complication. Whenever it is encountered, successful delivery can be achieved without the need to have decapitation of the first twin during caesarian section.