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Planned cesarean section vs planned vaginal delivery among women without formal medical indication for planned cesarean section : A retrospective cohort study of maternal short-term complications

Dahlquist, Karin LU ; Stuart, Andrea LU and Källén, Karin LU (2022) In Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 101(9). p.1026-1032
Abstract

Introduction: Rates of delivery by cesarean section have gradually risen in many parts of the world, and it is regarded as a safe surgical procedure with expanded indications. We assessed maternal complications within 6 weeks postpartum after planned cesarean section and after planned vaginal delivery among patients without medical indication for cesarean section. Material and methods: This was a retrospective cohort study based on Swedish national registers and included 714 326 deliveries from 2008 to 2017. The study group consisted of cephalic, singleton, term pregnancies and excluded those with previous cesarean or pregnancy conditions that would qualify for cesarean section. We compared the risks of short-term complications between... (More)

Introduction: Rates of delivery by cesarean section have gradually risen in many parts of the world, and it is regarded as a safe surgical procedure with expanded indications. We assessed maternal complications within 6 weeks postpartum after planned cesarean section and after planned vaginal delivery among patients without medical indication for cesarean section. Material and methods: This was a retrospective cohort study based on Swedish national registers and included 714 326 deliveries from 2008 to 2017. The study group consisted of cephalic, singleton, term pregnancies and excluded those with previous cesarean or pregnancy conditions that would qualify for cesarean section. We compared the risks of short-term complications between planned cesarean section and planned vaginal delivery. We obtained adjusted risk ratios (ARRs) using modified Poisson regression models adjusting for maternal age, parity, body mass index, smoking, country of birth, and county. Results: The outcomes studied were infections and thromboembolism. In the planned cesarean section group (n = 22 855), 15% had a postpartum infection compared with 10% in the planned vaginal group (n = 691 471) (ARR 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5–1.6), and 0.08% vs 0.05% had a postpartum pulmonary embolism (ARR 1.7; 95% CI 1.0–2.6). The obtained risk estimates corresponded to “number needed to harm” estimates of 17 and 3448, respectively. When dividing the infections into subgroups, the risk of endometritis (ARR 1.2; 95% CI 1.1–1.3), wound infection (ARR 2.7; 95% CI 2.4–3.0), urinary tract infection (ARR 1.5; 95% CI 1.3–1.7), and mastitis (ARR 2.0; 1.9–2.2) was higher after planned cesarean section. Conclusions: Among patients without medical indication for planned cesarean section, the risks of short-term maternal complications were higher with planned cesarean section than with planned vaginal delivery.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
cesarean section, endometritis, instrumental vaginal birth, maternal request, puerperal infection, spontaneous vaginal birth, thromboembolism
in
Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica
volume
101
issue
9
pages
7 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:35841162
  • scopus:85134061760
ISSN
0001-6349
DOI
10.1111/aogs.14408
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4666a40d-1d37-4e64-bebf-b09383b85759
date added to LUP
2022-09-05 09:16:13
date last changed
2024-06-27 20:07:18
@article{4666a40d-1d37-4e64-bebf-b09383b85759,
  abstract     = {{<p>Introduction: Rates of delivery by cesarean section have gradually risen in many parts of the world, and it is regarded as a safe surgical procedure with expanded indications. We assessed maternal complications within 6 weeks postpartum after planned cesarean section and after planned vaginal delivery among patients without medical indication for cesarean section. Material and methods: This was a retrospective cohort study based on Swedish national registers and included 714 326 deliveries from 2008 to 2017. The study group consisted of cephalic, singleton, term pregnancies and excluded those with previous cesarean or pregnancy conditions that would qualify for cesarean section. We compared the risks of short-term complications between planned cesarean section and planned vaginal delivery. We obtained adjusted risk ratios (ARRs) using modified Poisson regression models adjusting for maternal age, parity, body mass index, smoking, country of birth, and county. Results: The outcomes studied were infections and thromboembolism. In the planned cesarean section group (n = 22 855), 15% had a postpartum infection compared with 10% in the planned vaginal group (n = 691 471) (ARR 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5–1.6), and 0.08% vs 0.05% had a postpartum pulmonary embolism (ARR 1.7; 95% CI 1.0–2.6). The obtained risk estimates corresponded to “number needed to harm” estimates of 17 and 3448, respectively. When dividing the infections into subgroups, the risk of endometritis (ARR 1.2; 95% CI 1.1–1.3), wound infection (ARR 2.7; 95% CI 2.4–3.0), urinary tract infection (ARR 1.5; 95% CI 1.3–1.7), and mastitis (ARR 2.0; 1.9–2.2) was higher after planned cesarean section. Conclusions: Among patients without medical indication for planned cesarean section, the risks of short-term maternal complications were higher with planned cesarean section than with planned vaginal delivery.</p>}},
  author       = {{Dahlquist, Karin and Stuart, Andrea and Källén, Karin}},
  issn         = {{0001-6349}},
  keywords     = {{cesarean section; endometritis; instrumental vaginal birth; maternal request; puerperal infection; spontaneous vaginal birth; thromboembolism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{9}},
  pages        = {{1026--1032}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica}},
  title        = {{Planned cesarean section vs planned vaginal delivery among women without formal medical indication for planned cesarean section : A retrospective cohort study of maternal short-term complications}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aogs.14408}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/aogs.14408}},
  volume       = {{101}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}