Publication:

Comparative study to assess the outcome of omitting bladder flap formation from caesarean delivery

Background The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of omitting the step of bladder flap formation at lower-segment caesarean delivery.

Methods It is a RCT (randomised control trial), non-blinded study conducted in a tertiary care hospital. A total of 104 women who underwent caesarean delivery (elective or emergency) were prospectively randomized to one of the two groups. In the study group (n= 54), caesarean was performed without formation of a bladder flap. In the control group (n=50), caesarean was performed with the formation of a bladder flap before the uterine incision.

Results There were differences of median skin incision to delivery interval (5 versus 6.5 minutes, P <0.0001), median total operating time (35 versus 44.5 minutes, P 0.0002), and median blood loss (haemoglobin 0.5 versus 1g/dl, P 0.0001) in favor of the study group. Postoperative incidence of urinary tract infection was reduced in the study group (1% versus 9%, P <0.0006) and bowel function returned early in the study group (day 2 versus 3, P<0.0001).  Bladder flap formation step was successfully omitted in (11/18, 61.11%) of previous CS (caesarean section) patients in the study group and (7/12, 58.33%) in control group illustrating that unless required, BF (bladder flap) formation step can even be omitted in previous CS patients.

Conclusions Omission of the bladder flap provides short term advantages such as reduction of total operating time, incision-delivery interval, and reduced blood loss and that this technique can even be applied in previous caesarean section patients.