The Full Form of RPOC is‍ Retained products of conception.

Retained products of conception (RPOC) refer to the persistence of placental and/or fetal tissue in the uterus following delivery, termination of pregnancy or a miscarriage. 

Epidemiology

RPOC complicate ~1-5% of all routine vaginal deliveries ¹².

According to one prospective study, RPOC was present in after a third-trimester delivery in around 2.7% of women, whereas it was diagnosed in pregnancies ending during the second and first trimesters in 40% and 17%, respectively ¹². 

It occurs with greater frequency with:

• medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) 
• second-trimester miscarriage
• placenta accreta

Clinical presentation

Common symptoms include vaginal bleeding and abdominal or pelvic pain, similar to patients with gestational trophoblastic disease. Some patients may have fever ¹¹.

Differentiation of these entities is important because retained products of conception are treated conservatively or with curettage, while gestational trophoblastic disease may require chemotherapy.

ß-human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG) remains elevated in patients with gestational trophoblastic disease but falls to an undetectable level over 2-3 weeks, in cases of retained products.