Skip to content

Comparison of Never Performing Episiotomy to Performing it in a Selective Manor

Not Performing Episiotomy Versus Selective Episiotomy: a Randomized Clinical Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02178111
Acronym
EPISIO
Enrollment
237
Registered
2014-06-30
Start date
2014-07-31
Completion date
2014-09-30
Last updated
2016-11-17

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Need of Episiotomy

Keywords

episiotomy, vaginal delivery, randomized, perineum

Brief summary

The study hypothesis is that not performing never episiotomies is safe and results are equivalent to performing episiotomies ina selective manor.

Detailed description

World Health Organization recommends that the rate of episiotomy in various departments will be around 10%, which is already a reality in many European countries. The episiotomy should be limited and physicians should be encouraged to use their clinical judgment to decide when the procedure is necessary. There are no clinical evidence corroborating any indication of episiotomy, so not yet known whether episiotomy is indeed necessary in any context obstetric practice. Objectives: To compare the maternal and perinatal outcomes in women undergoing a protocol of not conducting episiotomy versus selective episiotomy. Methods: A randomized clinical trial will be conducted in open Maternity Instituto de Medicina Integral Prof. Fernando Figueira, from August 2012 to July 2013. 340 women will be included in labor with term pregnancy, maximum dilation of 8 cm, live fetus in cephalic vertex presentation and will be excluded women with bleeding disorders of pregnancy , indication for caesarean section, women without capacity to consent and without legal guardians. The primary outcomes will be: frequency of episiotomy, delivery duration, frequency of spontaneous lacerations, frequency of instrumental delivery. frequency of perineal trauma, postpartum blood loss, need for perineal suturing, number of sutures, Apgar scores at one and five minutes, need for neonatal resuscitation and pH in cord blood. As secondary outcomes will be assessed: frequency of severe perineal trauma, complications of perineal suturing perineal pain postpartum evaluated according to the visual scale, maternal satisfaction, neonatal morbidity and admission RN in NICU. Women will be invited to participate and those who agree should signing the consent form. At the beginning of the second stage will open the envelope to determine which group included women, with 170 assigned to a protocol of not conducting episiotomy (experimental group) and 170 to a group that episiotomy is performed selectively (Control Group ), according to the judgment of the provider of care delivery. Statistical analysis will be performed using the Epi-Info statistical program 7, adopting the principle of intention to treat. The analysis will be performed with the groups identified as A or B by a blinded statistician to the meaning of the lyrics, breaking the secrecy only after the results obtained and prepared the tables. Categorical variables were compared in contingency tables, using the chi-square test of association and Fisher's exact test, as appropriate. The risk ratio (RR) shall be calculated as measure of relative risk, determining the confidence interval at 95%. Regarding the quantitative variables, if they have normal distribution, comparison between groups will be conducted through the Student's t test for unpaired samples. If it is found that the distribution is not normal, the nonparametric Mann-Whitney-will be used. Ethical aspects, the present study addresses the Resolution 196/96 of the National Health Council and will be submitted to the iMIP Research Ethics Committee, beginning only after your approval. All participants will be included only if they agree to voluntarily participate by signing the consent

Interventions

OTHERNever perform episiotomy

In this group birth attendants will be sought to avoid at all cost episiotomy. The intention is to never perform episiotomy in this group.

PROCEDUREepisiotomy

Sponsors

Instituto Materno Infantil Prof. Fernando Figueira
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Women in active labor admitted to the maternity ward * Term pregnancy (37-42 weeks gestation); * Maximum Dilation 8cm; * Live fetus in vertex position.

Exclusion criteria

* hemorrhagic syndromes of pregnancy (premature separation of the normally implanted placenta * Women with an indication for cesarean section: cephalopelvic disproportion (DCP), non reassuring fetal heart rate, dystocia; * Women without capacity to consent and without legal guardians. * Women undergoing cesarean delivery (post-randomization exclusion)

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
cord blood pH at birthFrom birth of the baby until first minute after deliveryCord blood pH ( hydrogen ion concentration) at birth collected just after delivery
blood loss at deliveryfrom delivery to one hour postpartumVolume of blood loss in mililiters, lost by the patient from the genital tract, from the moment of the delivery to one hour after delivery
perineal need of suturingFrom delivery to one hour postpartumPerineal suturing carried out by the birth attendant
Apgar scoresFrom delivery to five minutes after deliveryone and five minutes Apgar scores
need for neonatal resuscitationFrom delivery to one hour after deliveryNeed of any resuscitation procedures carried out in the conduction of the neonate, from the time of birth until one hour after delivery
duration of the second stage of laborFrom beginning of second stage of labor to delivery of the babyTime in minutes from beginning of second stage of labor until the delivery of the baby
frequency of episiotomyFrom diagnosis of second stage of labor to delivery of the neonateFrequency of episiotomies in fact carried out
frequency of spontaneous lacerationsFrom randomizatyion to one hour after deliveryFrequency of spontaneous lacerations verified immediatly after delivery (time frame from randomization until one hour after delivery)

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
complications of perineal sutureFrom delivery until 15 days after deliverypresence of hematoma, or infection or dehiscence of perineal suture described in the patients records from the moment of the delivery until 15 days after the delivery
perineal pain after childbirthFrom 24 hours after delivery until 48 hours of the deliveryperineal pain after childbirth evaluated according to the visual scale and maternal satisfaction, the evaluation is carried from 24 to 48 hours after the delivery, before maternal discharge from the hospital
admission of the newborn (NB) in the neonatal intensive care unit (ICU).from delivery until 28 days after birthadmission of the newborn (NB) in the neonatal intensive care unit (ICU).
frequency of severe perineal traumafrom delivery of the baby until one hour after deliveryfrequency of severe perineal trauma observed by the birth attendant

Countries

Brazil

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 19, 2026