Comparison of Success Rate of Vaginal Birth after Cesarean Between Women with Lower Segment Uterine Scar Thickness more than and less than 3.5mm

Abstract

Background: Although scar thickness is been used for predicting vaginal birth among women with previous one cesarean section but which women are good candidates for VBAC, the value of applying sonographic LUS thickness measurement in the management of VBAC remains unclear and there are no clear guidelines in this regard. Objective: To determine the frequency of successful vaginal birth after previous one cesarean section and to compare the frequency of vaginal birth after previous one cesarean section in women with scar thickness >3.5 mm compared to those with scar thickness ≤3.5 mm. Study Design: Descriptive, Case-series study. Settings: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, DHQ Hospital, Faisalabad. Duration: Six months from December 15, 2017 to June 15, 2018. Methodology: The Non probability, consecutive sampling technique was used in this study. A total of 151 patients in spontaneous labor at term presented to labor room and fulfilling the inclusion criteria were enrolled in this study. After taking informed written consent, the patients were placed randomly into two groups. Group A included all the women with scar thickness >3.5 mm on ultrasonography while Group B included all the women with scar thickness ≤ 3.5mm on ultrasonography. All cases were followed till delivery and outcome variables like vaginal birth was noted. Data was entered and analyzed through SPSS version 21. Results: Mean age was 27.53 ± 4.93 years. Mean gestational age was 39.09 ± 1.13 weeks.  Frequency of successful vaginal birth after previous one cesarean section was found in 131(86.75%) patients, whereas there was no VBAC in 20(13.25%) patients. The results of the study showed that women with scar thickness > 3.5 mm were more likely to have vaginal birth (96.65%) versus those with scar thickness ≤3.5mm (79.27%) (P = 0.003). Conclusion: This study concluded that the frequency of vaginal birth after previous one cesarean section in women with scar thickness > 3.5 mm is much higher as compared to those with scar thickness ≤3.5mm.