A Randomized Trial of Continuous Versus Interrupted Sutures for Perineal Repair after Delivery

Abstract

Eighty-five percent of women who have a spontaneous vaginal birth will have some form of perineal trauma and up to 69% will need to have sutures (McCandlish et al., 1998). Maternal factors that may contribute to the extent of trauma sustained during childbirth are ethnicity, age, tissue type and nutritional state in the pregnancy years (Klein et al., 1998; Renfrew et al., 1997). Other risk factors include primiparity, fetal birth weight greater than 4000 g, instrumental delivery, direct occipitoposterior position and precipitate birth (Wood et al., 1998). Morbidity associated with childbirth may affect women’s physical, psychological and social well-being, both in the immediate and long-term postnatal period. Pain and discomfort related to perineal trauma have been reported to interfere with women’s daily activities postpartum, such as sitting, walking and lifting the baby (Albers et al., 1999).