Interrupted Versus Subcu taneous Continuous Skin Suture i n Episiotomy Repair i n Indian Urban Women: A Study

Introduction : Episiotomy also known as perineotomy , is a surgical incision of the perineum and the posterior vaginal wall generally done by a midwife or obstetrician during second stage of labor to quickly enlarge the opening for the baby to pass through. The incision, which can be done at a 90 degree angle from the vulva towards the anus or at an angle from the posterior end of the vulva (medio - lateral episiotomy), is performed under local anesthetic ( pudendal anesthesia ), and is sutured after delivery. Its routine use is no longer recommended. Despite this it is one of the most common medical procedures performed on women. In the United States as of 2012 it was performed in 12% of vaginal births. Perineal pain is the most common complaint after episiotomy. It imposes extra pressure on mothers who attempt to adapt to their new conditions. Therefore, the present study was performed to compare pain severity and perineal repair in two skins suturing surgical technique in episiotomy repair meth ods. Methods : In this clinical trial, 64 primiparous women who came to our hospital for delivery were randomly allocated into two groups of 32 to undergo either interrupted or subcutaneous continuous episiotomy repair. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was us ed to evaluate pain severity 12 - 18 hours after episiotomy repair and also 10 days after delivery. Perineal repair rate was also assessed using the REEDA (redness, edema, ecchymosis, discharge, and approximation) scoring scale. Results: Statistical tests di d not show significant differences between the 2 groups in pain severity variations or REEDA scores at 12 - 18 hours and the 10th day after delivery. Conclusion : The results of this study showed that pain severity and episiotomy repair rate were similar in t he two methods. Further studies with a larger sample size are required