Comparison between 200 µg and 800 µg of vaginal misoprostol for cervical ripening before operative hysteroscopy: A randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To compare between 200 and 800 µg of vaginal misoprostol for cervical ripening before operative hysteroscopy. METHODS: Quadruple-blind randomized clinical trial conducted between November 2019 and September 2020 involving 76 patients undergoing cervical dilatation before surgical hysteroscopy at teaching hospitals in Pernambuco, Brazil. Women received the vaginal misoprostol dosage of 200 or 800 µg,10-12 h before operative hysteroscopy. The cervical width was the primary outcome, and secondary outcomes were patient satisfaction, adverse effects, surgical complications, and duration of cervical dilatation. Chi-square tests of association, Fisher's exact and Mann-Whitney U tests were used with an α error of <5%. RESULTS: There was no statistical difference between the groups in the mean of the cervical width (800 µg: 6.5 ± 1.6 mm vs 200 µg: 5.8 ± 1.8 mm, P = 0.055), patient satisfaction, and surgical findings, but the duration of cervical dilatation was lower in the 800-µg group (28.16 ± 28.5 s vs 41.97 ± 31.0 s, P = 0.035). Among the adverse effects, diarrhea was more frequent in the 800-µg group with statistical difference (100% vs 0%; P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: For cervical ripening, 200 µg misoprostol is equally effective with fewer adverse effects than 800 µg before operative hysteroscopy. CLINICALTRIALS: gov: NCT04152317. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04152317.

Frequency and Factors Associated with Urinary Incontinence in Pregnant Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the overall frequency of urinary incontinence in pregnant adolescents, focusing particularly on the presence of symptoms of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and coital incontinence (CI), and to describe the biological, sociodemographic, clinical, urinary, reproductive, sexual, and lifestyle factors associated with incontinence. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, descriptive study. SETTING: The outpatient clinic for high-risk pregnancies at the Instituto de Medicina Integral Prof. Fernando Figueira (IMIP) in Recife, Pernambuco, in the Northeast of Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of 103 pregnant adolescents who attended for prenatal consultations during the study period. INTERVENTIONS: Data were collected on the participants' characteristics and information based on the Incontinence Severity Index (ISI) questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Frequency of urinary incontinence and possible correlations between the women's characteristics and SUI and CI symptoms. RESULTS: Mean age (±standard deviation) was 16.76 ± 1.8 years. Urinary incontinence was present in 60.1% of the patients. Of these, 37.8% had SUI and 33.9% CI. In addition, 30.8% of the patients with CI also had SUI. There were statistically significant associations between CI and the occurrence of SUI prior to pregnancy (100%; PR: 1.77; 95% CI: 1.48-2.13; P = .011), between SUI and chronic coughing (60%; PR = 1.95; 95% CI: 1.23-3.09; P = .009), and between CI and height (41.9%; PR = 1.00; 95% CI: 0.27-1.00; P = .036). CONCLUSION: Urinary incontinence is a dysfunction that may affect pregnant adolescents, with symptoms possibly beginning as early as the first trimester of pregnancy.

Maternal and perinatal outcomes in women with and without hypertensive syndromes submitted to induction of labor with misoprostol.

OBJECTIVES: To determine maternal and perinatal outcomes according to the mode of delivery in normotensive and hypertensive women bearing a live, full-term fetus, who were submitted to labor induction with misoprostol. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study. The endpoints were tachysystole, uterine hyperstimulation, indications for cesarean section, severe maternal morbidity, side effects, maternal death, 1st/5th minute Apgar, neonatal death, requirement for neonatal intensive care, and birth weight (grams). The chi-square or Fisher's exact test was applied at a significance level of 5%. Risk ratios (RRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in maternal outcome as a function of mode of delivery. First-minute Apgar score <7 was less common with vaginal deliveries in normotensive women (RR = 0.41; 95% CI: 0.18-0.90), this being the only significant difference in perinatal outcome. CONCLUSION: Maternal and perinatal outcomes were similar in hypertensive and normotensive women submitted to labor induction with misoprostol.

Native vaginal tissue repair for genital prolapse surgical treatment: a minimum of 30 months of results.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of using native vaginal tissue repair as a surgical treatment for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) on quality of life using validated questionnaires. STUDY DESIGN: Fifty-one women underwent surgical POP repair. All of the women were evaluated by physical examination using the POP-Q, ICIQ-VS and P-QoL questionnaires prior to surgery as well as six and at least 30 months after surgery. RESULTS: Fifty-one patients returned for assessment at least 30 months after surgery (median 36 months, range 30-50 months). There was significant improvement in most points - Aa, Ba, C, Bp, Ap, and hg - and at the stage of prolapse. There were statistically significant improvements in bulge symptoms after surgery (p<0.001), and significant differences were also seen regarding questions related to urinary and bowel symptoms. Indeed, most quality of life questionnaire domains showed significant differences before and after surgery. CONCLUSION: Native vaginal tissue repair improved POP-related symptoms and quality of life after 30-50 months of assessment.

Maternal near miss in the intensive care unit: clinical and epidemiological aspects.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the epidemiological clinical profile of women with maternal near miss according to the new World Health Organization criteria. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted, in which the records of patients admitted to the obstetric intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital in Recife (Brazil) over a period of four years were analyzed. Women who presented at least one near miss criterion were included. The variables studied were age, race/color, civil status, education, place of origin, number of pregnancies and prenatal consultations, complications and procedures performed, mode of delivery, gestational age at delivery, and maternal near miss criteria. The descriptive analysis was performed using the program Epi-Info 3.5.1. RESULTS: Two hundred fifty-five cases of maternal near miss were identified, with an overall ratio of maternal near miss of 12.8/1,000 live births. Among these cases, 43.2% of the women had incomplete primary education, 44.7% were primiparous, and 20.5% had undergone a previous cesarean section. Regarding specific diagnoses, there was a predominance of hypertensive disorders (62.7%), many of which were complicated by HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets) syndrome (41.2%). The laboratory near miss criteria were the most often observed (59.6%), due mainly to the high frequency of acute thrombocytopenia (32.5%). CONCLUSIONS: A high frequency of women who had a low level of education and who were primiparous was observed. According to the new criteria proposed by the World Health Organization, hypertensive pregnancy disorders are still the most common among maternal near miss cases. The high frequency of HELLP syndrome was also striking, which contributed to acute thrombocytopenia being the most frequent near miss criterion.

Fascial surgical repair for vaginal prolapse: effect on quality of life and related symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of surgical treatment for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) on quality of life and on bladder, vaginal and bowel symptoms using validated questionnaires such as the prolapse quality of life questionnaire (P-QoL). STUDY DESIGN: Sixty-five women underwent surgical POP repair. All were evaluated by physical examination and by the use of ICIQ-VS and P-QoL questionnaires before surgery as well as three and six months after surgery. RESULTS: The preoperative scores of all domains on the ICIQ-VS and P-QoL questionnaires and the scores obtained from quantification of the urinary, sexual and bowel symptoms were higher than those at three and six months after surgery (p<0.0001). There was no significant difference in the domain scores for the ICIQ-VS and P-QoL questionnaires at three and at six months after surgery (p>0.05). The preoperative staging was higher than that at three and six months after surgery (p<0.001), and there was no difference in staging between the two postoperative time points (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Surgery with fascial repair for the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse improved health-related quality of life, as assessed by the P-QoL and ICIQ-VS, as well as urinary, vaginal and intestinal symptoms.