Thursday, September 1, 2011

Surgical repair of spontaneous perineal tears that occur during childbirth versus no intervention

Trauma to the perineum of varying degrees constitutes the most common form of obstetric injury. The perineum is the area between the vagina and rectum which can tear during childbirth. In clinical practice these tears are often sutured. However, small tears may also heal well without surgical interference. If pain is experienced, this can result in decreased mobility and discomfort with passing urine or faeces and may negatively impact on the woman's ability to breast feed and care for her new baby. Our review included two randomised controlled trials (involving 154 women) comparing surgical repair of first-degree (involving only the perineal or vaginal skin) or second-degree tears (also involving muscle) with leaving the wound to heal spontaneously. These trials showed no clear differences in clinical outcomes between the groups. The studies did not find any differences in pain immediately and up to eight weeks postpartum. One of the trials reported no difference in wounds complications, but the other showed differences in wound closure and poor wound approximation in the non-sutured group. There was no information about the effect on long-term outcomes such as sexual discomfort or incontinence. More research is needed to provide a strong evidence-based recommendation for clinical practice.

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