Comparison of Patient Experience With Wound Healing and Functional Outcomes After Cesarean Section

Background:  Obesity is an independent risk factor for cesarean delivery and development of wound complications in post-cesarean women. A wound complication presents an added burden to the new family that is working to assimilate a new member and to adjust to new routines. 

Purpose:  The purpose of this descriptive, exploratory study was to explore the incidence of wound complications, pain, and functional status outcomes in obese women as compared to non-obese women who had cesarean delivery.  

Specific Aims:  The specific aims of the study were to:

1. Establish baseline data to describe the incidence and type of wound complications in obese and non-obese women after C-section.
2. Describe the incidence of continued drainage at surgical sites after dressing removal with standard wound care. 
3. Compare functional status of obese and non-obese new mothers after surgical delivery.
4. Compare pain scores in both populations.

 Results:  One hundred women were recruited for this study at a large referral center in western North Carolina.  Study methods included survey, medical record abstraction and physical examination.  Data analysis include descriptive statistics, frequency distributions, group differences in incidence and type of wound complications (Specific Aim 1), incidence of continued drainage (Specific Aim 2), functional status (Specific Aim 3), and pain (Specific Aim 4) were analyzed using independent t-tests for Likert-scale items and Pearson’s chi-square/Fisher’s exact test for binomial items. Findings will be presented at the 47^th Annual Conference. 

Conclusion:  It is hoped that the information presented may provide foundational data for future interventional studies with the ultimate outcome of prevention of incision complications.