Relation of Striae Gravidarum with Cesarean Scar and Peritoneal Adhesions

Abstract

Objective: to find out the relation between striae gravidarum and, cesarean scar and peritoneal adhesions. Study Design: Cross sectional Study. Place and Study Duration: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, DG Khan Teaching Hospital Multan, from January 2018 to June 2018. Material and methods: A total number of 150 patients presenting to the department of gynecology and obstetrics for cesarean section were included in the study. Severity of striae gravidarum was assessed using Davey scoring system. Modified Blauer classification was used to define the intraperitoneal adhesions in five categories. Three groups were designed group 1, 2 and 3. In group 1 those women were involved that had no striae gravidarum, in group 2 were those women who had mild to moderate number of striae gravidarum and in group 3 women with severe amount of striae gravidarum were included. Students T test and Mann-Whitney test was applied to compare the two groups. Frequency and percentages were calculated for categorical variables and mean and standard deviation was calculated for continuous variables. P value of less than or equal to 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: Grade 2-4 intraperitoneal adhesions, keloids and pigmentations were more in Group 2 and Group 3 but no statistically significant difference was present (p-value 0.517, 0.427 and 0.372, respectively). The appearance of scar was also not different among the three groups (p=0.541). Scar length was more in Group-3 (p=0.289) but the width was more in Group-1 (p=0.248) with no statistically significant difference. Conclusion: The results of this study show that striae gravidarum was associated with scar characteristics but no correlation between striae gravidarum and intraperitoneal adhesions could be observed as such.

Keywords: Striae Gravidarum, Cesarean Section, Abdominal Adhesions