The prevalence of obesity
is increasing worldwide. And obese fertile women appear to have
more adverse pregnancy outcomes: increased risks of gestational hypertension,
preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, anemia, induction of labor, instrumental
delivery, cesarean section, and severe postpartum hemorrhage. And some studies
have shown that when they have a cesarean delivery, these women have more
postoperative complications compared to non-obese patients. It is why the
gynecological community has been developing alternative surgical technique to
try to diminish the complication risks, the current reference being the transverse
subumbilical incision. These techniques
differ from the skin incision for both type and site: transverse or vertical,
subumbilical or supraumbilical. To the authors’
knowledge, there is no consensus on the surgical approach nor choice of
abdominal incision in the obese women undergoing cesarean delivery, so in this
paper they aimed to describe their experience in supraumbilical cesarean
deliveries in severely and morbidly obese patients (body mass index > 35
kg/m2) with a voluminous abdominal panniculus.
They conducted a
retrospective study in France between January 2009 and May 2014. Every woman
who underwent a cesarean delivery with a supraumbilical incision was included
through her digital medical record. A senior doctor made the decision for a
supraumbilical skin incision after careful examination of the patient’s
anatomical conditions. Twenty patients were included, for a total of 21
cesarean deliveries. Their mean body mass index was 50 (40 - 61.7). Nineteen of
them (95.0%) had an abdominal panniculus in supine “apron” position. Twelve
patients (57.1%) had a scarred uterus. During the cesarean section, 14 (66.7%)
had a segmentary hysterotomy. The median operative time was 49 minutes (32
- 70). Four patients (19.1%) had a postpartum hemorrhage and 4 (19.1%) a
postpartum infectious complication, none of which were severe.
In summary, in this specific population of severely obese women undergoing
cesarean procedures, variations in anatomy require each patient’s incision
choice to be individualized. In women with a voluminous panniculus, the
supraumbilical skin incision seems to offer an adequate exposure to the
peritoneal cavity and the lower uterine segment, therefore allowing to safely
carry out the procedure. However, a prospective study on a larger sample
remains necessary to compare this technique to the classical cesarean
procedure.
Article by Zelda
Stewart, et al, from Caen University Hospital, Caen, France.
Full access: http://mrw.so/2JZmbE

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