COMPARISON OF OUTCOME (IN TERMS OF PERINEAL PAIN) OF VICRYL SUTURE VERSUS CHROMIC CATGUT SUTURE FOR EPISIOTOMY REPAIR

*Dr. Mubasher Saeed Pansota, Dr. Hina Ilyas and Dr. Sadia Shakeel

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The type of suturing material used for perineal repair may also have an effect on the amount of pain, wound dehiscence and superficial dyspareunia experienced by women following childbirth. Suture materials used are absorbable and non-absorbable. Absorbable suture materials used are chromic catgut, polyglycolic acid and polyglactin while non-absorbable sutures are silk, nylon etc. Objectives: To compare the outcome (in terms of perineal pain) of vicryl rapide suture versus chromic catgut suture for episiotomy repair. Study design: Randomized controlled trial. Materials & Methods: A total of 100 women undergoing episiotomy during vaginal delivery, 18 to 35 years of age were included. Patients with multiple pregnancy, instrument delivery, breech presentation and any chronic disease were excluded. Then selected were divided into two equal groups (A & B) by lottery method. All the patients were assessed by the researcher for perineal pain assessment and final outcome (satisfactory/unsatisfactory) was measure at 5th day post-operatively. Results: The mean age of women in group A was 27.48 ± 3.59 years and in group B was 27.36 ± 3.52 years. The mean gestational age in group A was 39.48 ± 1.27 weeks and in group B was 39.38 ± 1.28 weeks. The mean parity in group A was 2.64 ± 0.94 and in group B was 2.58 ± 0.97. Outcome was satisfactory (no perineal pain) in 18 (36.0%) patients in Group A (chromic catgut) while in Group B (vicryl rapide), it was seen in 36 (72.0%) patients with p-value of 0.0001. Conclusion: This study concluded that outcome of vicryl rapide suture is better as compared to chromic catgut suture in terms of perineal pain following episiotomy repair.

Keywords: Episiotomy, vicryl, chromic catgut, perineal pain.