ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether abdominal scar characteristics could predict the incidence and severity of intra-abdominal adhesions found at repeat cesarean delivery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Prospective cohort study including 151pregnant women with at least one previous cesarean delivery and who delivered abdominally in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology of Farhat Hached teaching hospital-Sousse-Tunisia, during 6 months. Abdominal scar characteristics were studied. The main outcome measure(s) were the incidence and severity of intra-abdominal adhesions. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 18.0. RESULTS: Of 151 women enrolled into this trial, 111 (73.5%) had adhesions, 57 (37.8%) had dense adhesions. Of all the abdominal scar characteristics studied, a depressed scar was associated with an increased incidence of both dense and filmy intra-abdominal adhesions and frozen pelvis if compared of women who did not have a depressed scar (P<10(-4) ; RR=7.6; IC=2.98-19.45). A number of previous cesarean section equal or more than 2 was also correlated with an increased incidence of severe intra-abdominal adhesions and frozen pelvis if compared with women who had only one previous cesarean section (P=0.002; RR=2.53; IC=1.16-5.56). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: A depressed abdominal scar of a previous cesarean delivery and a number of previous cesarean sections are significantly correlated with the incidence and severity of intra-abdominal adhesions.
