Obstetric and Gynecologic Outcomes after the Transvaginal Repair of Cesarean Scar Defect in a Series of 183 Women.

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To analyze retrospectively the effect of hysteroscopy combined with transvaginal repair on the cesarean section diverticulum (CSD) and explore the clinical significance of this procedure.

DESIGN

Retrospective study.

SETTING

University-affiliated hospital and a gynecology hospital.

PATIENTS

A total of 183 patients with scar diverticulum after cesarean section were recruited from the Southern Medical University Affiliated Maternal & Child Health Hospital of Foshan and Shenzhen In Vitro Fertilization Gynecological Hospital.

INTERVENTIONS

In this study, we reported a surgical method for repairing uterine scar through uterine therapy and explored its clinical efficacy and pregnancy outcome.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

The time of operation, volume of bleeding, and duration of hospitalization were recorded. The size of the scar diverticulum and the remaining myometrium were examined by B-mode ultrasonography before and after the operation. The length of the menstrual cycle and pelvic pain were recorded during follow-up to check the recovery of patients after surgery. The pregnancy of patients with pregnancy needs was recorded to check the pregnancy outcome. All 183 patients successfully completed the repair of the transvaginal uterus scar diverticulum with the help of a hysteroscopy examination. The mean (± standard deviation) operation time was 58.61 ± 18.56 minutes. The mean blood loss was 36.97 ± 22.32 mL. The mean hospital stay was 6.08 ± 1.89 days. In 57.14% of patients, the CSD completely disappeared, whereas the volume of CSD shrank by at least 50% in 88.95% of patients. The mean menstrual period of patients after surgery was 7.72 ± 2.68 days, which was significantly shorter than that recorded preoperatively (13.45 ± 3.69 days) (t = 19.62, p = .00). The pelvic pain disappeared in 81.08% of the patients. The mean postoperative thickness of the remaining muscular layer was 5.30 ± 1.27-mm, which was significantly higher than the preoperative value of 2.25 ± 0.92-mm (t = 28.21, p = .00). The mean postoperative thickness of the remaining muscular layer of patients with improved menstrual cycle was 5.40 ± 1.27-mm, which was significantly higher than the thickness of 4.88 ± 1.11-mm in patients without improved menstrual cycle (t = 2.31, p = .025). A total of 124 patients attempted to become pregnant, 83 of whom were successful. The pregnancy rate was as high as 66.95%, which included 2 scar pregnancies, 4 ectopic pregnancies, and 87 intrauterine pregnancies. No uterine rupture occurred.

CONCLUSION

The transvaginal repair of the uterine diverticulum improved the symptoms and probability of a successful pregnancy effectively. This process is a surgical procedure to increase the thickness of the residual uterine muscle wall effectively.