Bacterial Vaginosis in Recent Abortion: An Observational Study in the Department of Obstetrics&Gynaecology, SMS Medical College, Jaipur

Background: Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) is the most common cause of abnormal vaginal discharge among women of reproductive age, accounting for 40 to 50 per cent of all cases of vaginal discharge. Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) is a special public health concern in India because of the high burden of reproductive and pregnancy-related morbidity. The purpose of the study is to look for the cost-effective, less time-consuming method that can be added to the routine screening for the women who are pregnant and having persistent vaginal discharge to help in reducing adverse pregnancy outcome. Also, screening of BV in fertile women is necessary to prevent spontaneous abortion. Material& Methods: This is a hospital based observational study done on women between the age of 18-39 years, attending Gynaecological Out-Patient Department, with a history of spontaneous abortion 2 to 6 weeks back in SMS Medical College, Jaipur, Rajasthan. For sample collection, a nonlubricated bivalve speculum was inserted into the vagina, and vaginal swabs were taken from the vaginal walls and posterior fornix with four sterile cotton swabs for pH examination, whiff test, pap’s smear, Gram’s staining and culture. Results: Our study showed that no significant association was found between age, religion, residence& socio-economic status and BV. Maximum proportion (36 %) of BV observed among women who had history of 2nd trimester pregnancy loss. While classifying Bacterial vaginosis positive cases of recent spontaneous abortion according to Nugent score (Gram staining), 52.17 % cases were positive on both scores and remaining all 47.82 % cases showed intermediate results. Conclusion: We concluded that the screening of Bacterial Vaginosis in pregnant women may be used for evaluating women who are predisposed for abortion. However, to be able to use BV screening for routine purpose in determining the poor reproductive outcome, further work and research are needed.