The long-term physical emotional and psychosexual outcomes related to anal incontinence after severe perineal trauma at childbirth

摘要

Obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS), or third-degree and fourth-degree perineal tears, represent a serious complication at childbirth. The rate of OASIS for primiparous women in the United Kingdom has been reported to have increased from 1.8 to 5.9% over a twelveyear period1. In women who suffered OASIS at first birth, the incidence of a repeat OASIS has been shown to be 8.4% in hospital-based studies2 and 7.2% in population-based studies3 in the United Kingdom. In other countries, the rate of repeat OASIS in hospital-based and population-based studies has been reported to range widely from 2.0 to 7.2%4,5 and from 5.6 to 7.1%6,7, respectively.