Diagnosis of anal sphincter tears by postpartum endosonography to predict fecal incontinence.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether anal endosonography immediately after vaginal delivery can predict subsequent fecal incontinence. METHODS: We studied nulliparas who delivered vaginally and had no anal sphincter tears (third- or fourth-degree perineal tears) diagnosed clinically by endosonography before any suture of the perineum. The sonographer was unaware of delivery details and the obstetrician and the women were not informed of endosonography results. Therefore, the suture of the perineum and the outcomes were not influenced by sonographer's diagnoses. Three months after delivery, we assessed fecal incontinence by self-administered questionnaires. RESULTS: Clinically undetected tears of the anal sphincter were diagnosed by anal endosonography in 42 of 150 women (28%). The external anal sphincter alone was involved in 30 women (20%), the internal anal sphincter alone in two (1.3%), and both in ten (7%). The postal questionnaire was returned by 144 women. Incontinence was reported by 22 (15%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 10%, 22%), consisting mainly of incontinence to flatus only (16 of 22, 73%, 95% CI 50%, 89%). Clinically undetected anal sphincter tears diagnosed by endosonography were associated with incontinence 3 months after delivery (odds ratio [OR] 8.8; 95% CI 2.9, 26.5). The sensitivity of anal endosonography was 68% (95% CI 49%, 88%) and the positive predictive value 37% (95% CI 22%, 51%). CONCLUSION: Anal endosonography immediately after vaginal delivery allows diagnosis of clinically undetected anal sphincter tears that might be associated with subsequent fecal incontinence.

[Insertion of a sub-urethral sling through the obturating membrane for treatment of female urinary incontinence]. / Pose d'un ruban sous urétral oblique par voie obturatrice dans le traitement de l'incontinence urinaire féminine.

OBJECTIVE: The use of a TVT device has been for a few years the operation most often performed to treat female urinary incontinence. One of the most frequent complications of this surgery is bladder perforation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: To prevent this complication we use the way initially suggested by Delorme, in which the two ends of the sling were passed through the obturating membrane and the muscles which cover it, by circumventing the ischiopubic bone with Emmet needle introduced from outside to inside. RESULTS: No bladder perforation was noted among the first 71 operated patients. For the first 68 patients re-examined 6 to 12 weeks after the surgery, two patients had improved and 64 were totally cured. CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of this method is the same as that of the traditional method.

[Uterine rupture. A case of spontaneous rupture in a thirty week primiparous gestation ]. / Rupture utérine. A propos d'un cas de rupture spontanée à 30 SA chez une primipare.

Uterine rupture is one of the major complications of pregnancy. Most spontaneous uterine ruptures occur during labor in parturients with a scarred uterus. Spontaneous rupture where the uterus is unscarred are more rare and occur more frequently in older multiparous patients. Starting from a case of uterine rupture occurring in a 40 year-old primiparous women, we will present a review of the literature concerning cases of rupture in healthy uteri with no obvious cause.

Suburethral tape via the obturator route: is the TOT a simplification of the TVT?

Suburethral meshes can be implanted via the classic retropubic route (TVT) or by a new insertion technique that passes the tape into the obturator foramen (TOT). In a retrospective study we compared one 18-month period of 94 TOT (tension-free obturator tape) and one 18-month period of 99 TVT (tension-free vaginal tape), which preceded the change in the approach route. All operations were performed by the same surgeon using the same Prolene mesh and with no other surgical procedure associated. These two series were similar in terms of patient age, previous surgical history, degree of incontinence and preoperative urethral closure pressure. The analysis shows more hemorrhagic complications in the TVT group (10%) than in the TOT group (2%), but the difference was not significant. Bladder injuries were more frequent in the TVT group (10%) than in the TOT group (0%), but there was one urethral injury in the TOT group. The mean follow-up was 29.5 months in the TVT group and 12.8 months in the TOT group. The urinary results were the same, with 90% and 95% cured, respectively. In conclusion, the obturator approach shows identical urinary results to the classic retropubic approach. Because of the nature of the procedure, major hemorrhage and bowel perforation are excluded in the TOT procedure. Thus simplicity, safety and continence result mean that the obturator approach represents the best method of suburethral tape insertion for the treatment of urinary stress incontinence.

Postdelivery anal function in primiparous females: ultrasound and manometric study.

PURPOSE: A study was performed to evaluate the early morphologic and functional consequences of vaginal delivery on the anal sphincter in primiparous females. METHODS: Among a cohort of 197 primiparous females who agreed to participate in a clinical evaluation of fecal incontinence and in a transanal ultrasound examination 12 weeks after delivery, 52 also underwent anal manometry using a radial six-port catheter, of whom 10 were asymptomatic and had a normal sphincter at ultrasound and the remaining 42 had clinical signs of anal incontinence or ultrasonographic defects of the anal sphincter or both. Anal sphincter pressures and asymmetry index were analyzed at rest and during voluntary squeeze. Manometric and ultrasound results were compared, together with clinical symptoms. RESULTS: Fourteen patients with clinical signs of anal incontinence had lower resting and squeeze anal pressures than continent patients (P < 0.05), but similar anal asymmetry indexes. Patients with incontinence and an anal defect had the lowest resting and squeeze anal pressures (P < 0.05). Forceps assistance to delivery was not associated with a higher frequency of anal sphincter lesions. Resting and squeeze anal pressures were lower in the forceps group (P < 0.005), but anal asymmetry indexes were similar. Finally, manometric results were identical in the presence or absence of anal sphincter endosonographic defects. CONCLUSIONS: Anal sphincter defects are frequent after the first vaginal delivery, but are not always associated with functional or clinical abnormalities. Resting and squeeze anal pressures were significantly decreased in patients with incontinence and an anal defect and after forceps-assisted deliveries. Anal asymmetry index was not found useful in this population of young primiparous females.