Routine Episiotomy Practice at a Tertiary Care Center in Saudi Arabia

Background: Episiotomy is a common perineum incision preformed to facilitate the delivery. Although it was commonly performed especially in primigravida women, the new trend is to limit episiotomies as much as possible. This study aimed to find out the rate of episiotomy and to compare the rate in primigravida vs multigravida at King Abdulaziz university hospital. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah from January 2012 to December 2015. Ethical approval was obtained. Results: 35% of the females in 2012 had episiotomy while the majority of the vaginal deliveries had no intervention (65%). In 2015, the rate of episiotomies has increased to 36.4%. However, the majority of the vaginal deliveries had no intervention (63.6%). Overall 87.6% primigravidas had episiotomy while only 12.4% delivered without intervention. On the other hand, only 16.1% multigravidas had episiotomy, while the largest portion of cases was delivered without intervention (83.9%). Conclusion: Rate of episiotomy has slightly increased in 2015 in comparison to 2012. To decrease the overall episiotomy rate, we have to review KAUH guidelines and evaluate the limitation of applying it in practice.