Blood loss at fibroids surgery: myomectomy versus total abdominal hysterectomy.

Two hundred and fifty patients with uterine fibroids were reviewed to compare operative outcomes and blood loss.

Determinants of pain perception in labour among parturients at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

This cross-sectional study of one thousand parturients aims to evaluate the factors, which are associated with pain perception in labour and to identify women who will benefit most from analgesia in labour. The instrument applied was a structured questionnaire incorporating the Box numerical scale (BNS) for pain assessment. Patients who delivered by elective or emergency caesarean section and women who did not give informed consent were excluded from the study. Spearman's and Pearson's correlational analyses were applied. Pain scores showed significant correlation with age (r=- 0.087, p<0.01), parity (r=- 0.226, p<0.01), gestational age at delivery (r=- 0.074, p<0.05), onset of labour (rho=0.195, p<0.01), mode of delivery (rho=0.160, p<0.01), booking status (rho=- 0.070, p<0.05) and educational status (rho=0.182, p<0.01). Certain groups of patients would benefit from obstetric analgesia. These patients include, nulliparous patients, young patients, patients who have had labour induced, those with preterm deliveries and those with an assisted vaginal delivery especially if they are well educated.

Pattern of chloroquine-induced pruritus in antenatal patients at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

The importance of Malaria, especially in pregnancy, cannot be over-emphasised. A major determinant of compliance with treatment in this environment is the pruritus chloroquine induces when ingested. This cross-sectional study of 200 antenatal patients was aimed at obtaining the pattern of the pruritus in antenatal patients. The prevalence of chloroquine-induced pruritus was 64.5%; 76.3% of the patients experienced the itching within 24 hours of ingestion of the drug and 60% of the patients still use the drug in spite of the itching for various reasons. Among the indices of severity, the frequency of itching with chloroquine use was the only factor that correlated with continuation of use (P < 0.01).

Attitudes of patients to obstetric analgesia at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Pain relief, for different reasons, is controversial worldwide. We designed this study to assess the level of awareness of antenatal patients to analgesia in labour and to evaluate the effect of age, parity and educational status on the awareness and acceptability of pain relief in labour. A structured questionnaire was administered to 1,000 antenatal patients between 1 June 2000 and 31 May 2001. Spearman's correlation coefficient was applied to estimate the correlation between the ranked dependent variable (awareness and acceptability) and age, parity and educational status (independent variables). Awareness of pain relief methods was seen in only 27.1%. The most common method known was the use of systemic opioids (80%); only 10% were aware of epidural analgesia and about 14% knew of inhalational analgesia. Acceptance of methods was, however, 57.6%. The most common reason for non-acceptance was that 'The pain of labour is natural' in 76.5%, 12% feared complications to the baby and 25% gave other reasons. Age, parity and educational status did not affect awareness. Educational status had positive correlation (rho = 0.13, P < 0.05) with acceptance while age had a negative correlation (rho = -0.124, P<0.05). Awareness of obstetric analgesia is still relatively low in this environment; however, a high proportion of patients would accept analgesia in labour if offered.