OBJECTIVE To evaluate the relation between midline episiotomy and postpartum anal incontinence. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study with three study arms and six months of follow up. SETTING University teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS Primiparous women who vaginally delivered a live full term, singleton baby between 1 August 1996 and 8 February 1997: 209 who received an episiotomy; 206 who d...

BACKGROUND Some clinicians believe that routine episiotomy, a surgical cut of the vagina and perineum, will prevent serious tears during childbirth. On the other hand, an episiotomy guarantees perineal trauma and sutures. OBJECTIVES To assess the effects on mother and baby of a policy of selective episiotomy ('only if needed') compared with a policy of routine episiotomy ('part of routine man...

INTRODUCTION Episiotomy angle is a crucial factor in causation of obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS), which are the major cause of female bowel incontinence. Sutured episiotomies angled too close to the midline (<30 degree) or too far away from the midline (>60 degree) fail to unload the perineum sufficiently and predispose to OASIS. A 25-degree post-delivery episiotomy suture angle has ...

Episiotomy rates for women experiencing childbirth in New South Wales (NSW) hospitals are another indicator that private insurance may be a risk factor for obstetric intervention. A recent comparison of episiotomy rates in NSW public and private hospitals between 1993 and 1996 revealed that episiotomy rates were 12 to 15 percentage points higher in NSW private hospitals than in public hospitals...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the association between the geometrical properties of episiotomy and obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS) because episiotomies angled at 40-60° are associated with fewer OASIS than episiotomies with more acute angles. DESIGN Case-control study. SETTING University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø and Nordland Hospital, Bodø, Norway. SAMPLE Seventy-four women ...

Based on the perception that episiotomy prevents obstetric trauma, the procedure is liberally performed in U.S. Hospitals. Using linked Nevada Birth Registry and Nevada Impatient Hospital Discharges (2000 to 2005), we applied descriptive analyses and logistic regression to examine the status of Nevada episiotomy practice and its impact on birth trauma for mothers. Of 106,461 vaginal live births...

In 1984, we proposed to study the need for episiotomy in the first North American randomized controlled trial on this subject. Getting funded and published proved to be difficult since we were questioning not only established views on episiotomy but also conventional beliefs about birth. During the 10-year process from conceptualization to publishing, we were confronted with the paradigm of bir...

OBJECTIVE To identify the perception of the teenager puerperas regarding the practice of episiotomy. METHODOLOGY This is a study with qualitative nature developed with 11 teenage puerperas in the Obstetrics Unit of one hospital located in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil. RESULTS Teens knew of the existence of episiotomy, but they unaware the reasons for its realization. Pain, d...

Endometriosis of the perianal region is an extremely rare condition usually seen in episiotomy scars and can involve the septum separating vagina and anal canal. The clinician is unlikely to suspect it if there is no scar in the perineum and patient the does not give a history of episiotomy. Moreover it is difficult to suspect when the patient does not report cyclical pain and therefore it is l...

Objective: Despite the fact that a restrictive use of episiotomy has proven to be beneficial, it continues to be widely used in vaginal births. Our aim was to compare women with episiotomy, to women with an intact perineum, 3 months after delivery, regarding several sexual variables, namely: sexual desire, arousal, orgasm, pain, sexual satisfaction and sexual function. Methods: An exploratory, ...