Laboring women were randomly assigned to chromic or fast-absorbing
polyglactin for perineal repairs. Subjects were evaluated at 24-48 hours, 10-14 days, and 6-8 weeks to assess perineal and uterine
pain,
analgesic use, presence of residual
suture, and
wound dehiscence.
RESULTS: Between April 2002 and January 2003, 1,361 subjects were randomly assigned. Two thirds of women in each group (459 fast-absorbing
polyglactin and 449 chromic) required
sutures for perineal repairs. Women were evaluated according to randomization assignment. Overall, 794 (87%) of subjects received the appropriate allocated
suture to repair a perineal
laceration (399 of 459, 86.9% fast-absorbing
polyglactin 910; 395 of 449, 88% chromic
catgut). At 24-48 hours, there was a statistically significant reduction in uterine cramping
pain (25% versus 34%; P =.006) in subjects randomly assigned to fast-absorbing
polyglactin.
At 10-14 days, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups. At 6-8 weeks there was, again, a statistically significant reduction in uterine cramping
pain (1% versus 4%; P =.017) and a statistically significant decrease in
analgesic use (5% versus 10%; P =.048) in subjects randomly assigned to fast-absorbing
polyglactin. Finally, at 6-8 weeks postpartum there was no difference in residual
suture (2 of 175 versus 2 of 134; P =.802) or
wound breakdowns (4 of 175 versus 3 of 134; P =.959) for fast-absorbing
polyglactin 910 and chromic
catgut, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that fast-absorbing
polyglactin 910 and chromic elicit similar postpartum perineal discomfort. In contrast to previous studies evaluating standard
polyglactin, our trial demonstrated that fast-absorbing
polyglactin rarely requires late removal and has a similar
wound breakdown profile as compared with chromic.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: