Taiwanese Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology (Dec 2016)

Site and incidence of birth canal lacerations from instrumental delivery with mediolateral episiotomy

  • Kenro Chikazawa,
  • Junko Ushijima,
  • Kenjiro Takagi,
  • Eishin Nakamura,
  • Koki Samejima,
  • Kanako Kadowaki,
  • Isao Horiuchi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjog.2016.05.011
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 55, no. 6
pp. 861 – 862

Abstract

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Objective: Instrument-assisted vaginal delivery is a significant risk factor for birth canal lacerations. Although many obstetricians recently are recommending restrictive rather than a routine episiotomy, reports have shown restrictive episiotomy to be associated with more extensive anterior birth canal trauma compared with routine episiotomy. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 110 cases of forceps and vacuum deliveries and investigated the site of birth canal lacerations. Birth canal lacerations were divided into four sites according to direction—anterior, ipsilateral, contralateral, and posterior. Results: The frequency of lacerations were, from most to least, posterior (34%), lateral (21.7%), and anterior (1.9%). Moreover, among the lateral lacerations, they were more frequent in the contralateral side of episiotomy than the ipsilateral side (18.9% vs. 4.7%, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Our results indicate that caution is also needed concerning not only the anterior site, but also the contralateral site of an episiotomy to prevent laceration in an instrument-assisted vaginal delivery.

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