Decision to Delivery Interval of Emergency Caesarean Sections: Evaluating Adherence to Timeframe and its Impact on Feto-Maternal Outcomes

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the decision to delivery interval (DDI) of category-1 and category-2 emergency caesarean section (ECS) and its effect on neonatal and maternal outcomes. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out at Combine Military Hospital (CMH), Kharian, Pakistan from February 2022 to February 2023. Methods: Data from 332 patients who underwent emergency caesarean section (ECS) at a tertiary care hospital were collected on a structured proforma and analyzed. Feto-maternal outcomes were dependent, and time to decision to delivery interval were independent variables. Results: Out of 332 ECS, 126 were Category 1, and 206 were category 2. The percentages of emergency caesarean section (ECS) done within the recommended DDI were 39.5% for category 1 and 20.5% for category 2. The median (IQR) of DDI was 45 (37–54) min and 90 (75–98) min for category 1 and category 2. Eclampsia, fetal distress and failed progress of labor were the most typical indications. In both types, there was no statistically significant poor neonatal outcome related to APGAR at 1 min and 5 min. Delays were associated with more cases of post-operative fever 74 (36) and 22(13.3) in category 2 than in category 1 ECS. Conclusion: Our study found delays in the decision-to-delivery interval (DDI) for both category 1 and category 2 emergency Caesarean sections. However, no statistically significant association was found between neonatal and maternal outcomes. How to cite this: Parveen S, Waqar S. Decision to Delivery Interval of Emergency Caesarean Sections: Evaluating Adherence to Timeframe and its Impact on Feto-Maternal Outcomes. Life and Science. 2023; 4(4): 445-451. doi: http://doi.org/10.37185/LnS.1.1.424

Keywords

• decision making, fetal hypoxia, outcome assessment