Anal incontinence and unrecognized anal sphincter injuries after vaginal delivery - A cross-sectional study in Norway

Background: Aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of postpartum anal incontinence among women who delivered vaginally, and to assess the extent to which obstetric injuries to the anal sphincters are missed.Methods: All women (both primiparous and multiparous) who delivered vaginally and received any kind of sutures in the perineal area at Innlandet Hospital Trust Elverum in Norway between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 were invited to answer a questionnaire on St. Mark’s incontinence score and to participate in a clinical examination of the pelvic floor including endoanal sonography. Results: In total 52,3% (n=207) of the 396 invited women participated in the study. Mean St. Mark’s score was 1.8 points (95% CI 1.4 to 2.1) at examination 14 months (mean) postpartum, and none of the participants suffered from weekly fecal leakage. Fecal urgency affected 11.7% (95% CI 7.1 to 16.3) of the participants, and 8.7% (95%CI 5.1 to 12.8) had weekly involuntary leakage of flatus. Nine women (9.3%, 95% CI 4.1 to 15.5) had a previously undetected third degree obstetric anal sphincter injury. Conclusion: The prevalence of anal incontinence among women who have delivered vaginally and received sutures due to 1st and 2nd degree perineal lacerations is low. Some obstetric anal sphincter injuries remain unrecognized at the time of delivery, but the symptoms of anal incontinence due to these injuries are in the lower half of the St. Mark’s incontinence score. Women with persistent symptoms like fecal urgency or leakage of gas and/or feces should be referred to evaluation by a colorectal surgeon in order to achieve optimal treatment.

Anal incontinence and unrecognized anal sphincter injuries after vaginal delivery - A cross-sectional study in Norway

Background: Aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of postpartum anal incontinence among women who delivered vaginally, and to assess the extent to which obstetric injuries to the anal sphincters are missed. Methods: All women (both primiparous and multiparous) who delivered vaginally and received any kind of sutures in the perineal area at Innlandet Hospital Trust Elverum in Norway between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 were invited to answer a questionnaire on St. Mark’s incontinence score and to participate in a clinical examination of the pelvic floor including endoanal sonography. Results: In total 52,3% (n=207) of the 396 invited women participated in the study. Mean St. Mark’s score was 1.8 points (95% CI 1.4 to 2.1) at examination 14 months (mean) postpartum, and none of the participants suffered from weekly fecal leakage. Fecal urgency affected 11.7% (95% CI 7.1 to 16.3) of the participants, and 8.7% (95%CI 5.1 to 12.8) had weekly involuntary leakage of flatus. Nine women (9.3%, 95% CI 4.1 to 15.5) had a previously undetected third degree obstetric anal sphincter injury. Conclusion: The prevalence of anal incontinence among women who have delivered vaginally and received sutures due to 1 st and 2 nd degree perineal lacerations is low. Some obstetric anal sphincter injuries remain unrecognized at the time of delivery, but the symptoms of anal incontinence due to these injuries are in the lower half of the St. Mark’s incontinence score. Women with persistent symptoms like fecal urgency or leakage of gas and/or feces should be referred to evaluation by a colorectal surgeon in order to achieve optimal treatment.

Anal incontinence and unrecognized anal sphincter injuries after vaginal delivery - A cross-sectional study in Norway

Background: Aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of postpartum anal incontinence among women who delivered vaginally, and to assess the extent to which obstetric injuries to the anal sphincters are missed. Methods: All women (both primiparous and multiparous) who delivered vaginally and received any kind of sutures in the perineal area at Innlandet Hospital Trust Elverum in Norway between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 were invited to answer a questionnaire on St. Mark’s incontinence score and to participate in a clinical examination of the pelvic floor including endoanal sonography. Results: In total 207 (52,3%) of the 396 invited women participated in the study. Mean St. Mark’s score was 1.8 points (95% CI 1.4 to 2.1), and none of the participants suffered from weekly fecal leakage. Fecal urgency affected 11.7% (95% CI 7.1 to 16.3) of the participants, and 8.7% (95%CI 5.1 to 12.8) had weekly involuntary leakage of flatus. Nine women (9.3%, 95% CI 4.1 to 15.5) had a previously undetected third degree obstetric anal sphincter injury. Conclusion: The prevalence of anal incontinence among women who have delivered vaginally and received sutures due to 1 st and 2 nd degree perineal lacerations is low. Some obstetric anal sphincter injuries remain unrecognized at the time of delivery, but the symptoms of anal incontinence due to these injuries are in the lower half of the St. Mark’s incontinence score. Women with persistent symptoms like fecal urgency or leakage of gas and/or feces should be referred to evaluation by a colorectal surgeon in order to achieve optimal treatment.

Long-term outcome of sphincteroplasty with separate suturing of the internal and the external anal sphincter

Background Sphincteroplasty is one of the treatment options for anal incontinence following obstetric injury. The aim of the study was to evaluate the long-term effect of sphincteroplasty with separate suturing of the internal and the external anal sphincter on anal continence. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on women who had sphincteroplasty for treatment of anal incontinence following obstetric injury. Women operated between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2014 at Sykehuset Innlandet Hospital Trust Hamar, were invited to answer a questionnaire and participate in a clinical examination, including endoanal sonography. Results 111 (86.7%) women participated. Median postoperative follow-up was 44.5 months, and 63.8% of the participants experienced an improvement of at least three points in the St. Mark’s incontinence score. Fecal urgency and daily fecal leakage persisted in 39.4% and 6.4% of the participants, respectively. The internal anal sphincter improvement persisted in 61.8% of the participants, and there was a median reduction of their St. Mark’s score of 6.0 points between the preoperative value and the value at long-term follow-up. There was no significant change in the St. Mark’s score of patients with persistent dehiscence of the internal anal sphincter. Conclusions Sphincteroplasty, with separate suturing of the internal sphincter resulted in continence for stool maintained for at least 3 years in the majority of the patients, while there was an improvement in continence in nearly two-thirds.

Anal incontinence and unrecognized anal sphincter injuries after vaginal delivery - A cross-sectional study

Background Aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of postpartum anal incontinence among women who delivered vaginally, and to assess the extent to which obstetric injuries to the anal sphincters are missed. Methods All women who delivered vaginally and received any kind of sutures in the perineal area at Innlandet Hospital Trust Elverum between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 were nvited to answer a questionnaire on St. Mark’s incontinence score and to participate in a clinical examination of the pelvic floor including endoanal sonography. Results 52.3% of the invited women participated in the study. Mean St. Mark’s score was 1.8 points (95% CI 1.4 to 2.1), and none of the participants suffered from weekly fecal leakage. 11.7% (95% CI 7.1 to 16.3) experienced fecal urgency, and 8.7% (95%CI 5.1 to 12.8) had weekly involuntary leakage of flatus. Nine women (9.3%, 95% CI 4.1 to 15.5) had a previously undetected third degree obstetric anal sphincter injury. Conclusion The prevalence of anal incontinence among women who have delivered vaginally and received sutures due to 1st and 2nd degree perineal lacerations is low. Some obstetric anal sphincter injuries remain unrecognized at the time of delivery, but the symptoms of anal incontinence due to these injuries are in the lower half of the St. Mark’s incontinence score. Women with persistent symptoms like fecal urgency or leakage of gas and/or feces should be referred to evaluation by a colorectal surgeon in order to achieve optimal treatment.

Evaluation of Diagnostic Accuracy of Anal Fistula by 360° Endoanal Ultrasound

Introduction: 360° endoanal ultrasound (EAUS) has become an effective imaging tool to diagnose anal fistulas for last three decades. Objectives: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of 360° endoanal ultrasound imaging comparing pre and peroperative diagnosis in anal fistulas. Methods: Between Jauary 2015 and June 2018, 240 patients with clinical anal fistula underwent endoanal sonographic assessment using a 360° endoanal transducer (7–15 MHz The sonographic findings, including the fistulas and other inflammatory lesions, were correlated with surgical results. The types of fistulas on endoanal sonography based on classification of Park and the internal opening of the fistula, both pre and peroperative, were compared to those of other studies. Results: The 240 patients studied included 165 male and 75 female patients. Endoanal sonography was able to show and track hypoechoic lesions, their locations, and internal openings of the fistulas. Compared with surgical results, endoanal sonography had sensitivity of 94.6%, specificity of 100%, and accuracy of 94.1% for the diagnosis of perianal fistulas. Also, endoanal sonography had accuracy of 86.1% for determining fistula types based on the Parks classification and 92.8% for identifying internal openings of the fistulas. Conclusions: Endoanal ultrasound is an accurate and noninvasive imaging modality for evaluation of fistulas. It is a very useful tool for preoperative management and surgical planning by providing precise and detailed information on fistulas. J Shaheed Suhrawardy Med Coll, December 2018, Vol.10(2); 66-69

Sonographic Evaluation of Obstetric Anal Injuries

ABSTRACT Intrapartum damage to the anal sphincter is an important factor in fecal incontinence. Obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS) vary from 1 to 18% of vaginal deliveries, including instrumental deliveries. The severity of anal sphincter injuries vary from superficial lacerations to deep injuries that can extend to the epithelium. Obstetric anal sphincter injuries are associated with both short-term complications (heavy bleeding, difficulties in recovery, increased incidence of infections, increased perineal pain) and long-term complications (rectovaginal fistulae or facal incontinence). A significant number of these anal sphincter injuries can be detected promptly after a good clinical examination, but still that does not exclude the possibility of these women suffering long-term complications. What is more when some of these so called ‘occult tears’ go undetected further increase the morbidity of the woman. Sonography of the perineum and the anal sphincter appears to offer a better diagnosis and detection of these injuries after vaginal delivery, which allows a timely and better treatment with less complications, with endoanal sonography offering the best detection rates so far. How to cite this article Grigoriadis T, Mylona SC, Giannoulis G, Athanasiou S, Antsaklis A. Sonographic Evaluation of Obstetric Anal Injuries. Donald School J Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2015;9(3):266-274.