Comparing Early Postoperative Maternal Complications in Elective and Emergency Cesarean Sections

Background aim: Scientifically, cesarean section (C-section) should be performed in case of emergency; however, the frequency of C-sections that are elective and without medical indication is high. This study aimed to compare the early postoperative maternal complications of elective and emergency C-sections. Methods: This descriptive study was carried out on a total of 120 patients undergoing elective and emergency C-sections at Fatemieh Hospital in Hamadan, Iran, between May to July 2019. The study participants were selected through convenient sampling from two groups of elective (N=60) and emergency C-sections (N=60). The data were collected using self-structured questionnaire on early maternal complications and were analyzed by SPSS software (version 23) using Chi-square and independent t-test. Results: A significant difference was observed between the two groups regarding the mean amount of intraoperative bleeding (P 0.05). During 24 h after the surgery, the emergency cesarean group received significantly more analgesics than the elective cesarean group (P 0.05). However, the two groups were not significantly different in terms of operative time, ileus, pain 6 h after surgery, and incidence of infection (P 0.05). Conclusion: The incidence rates of some maternal complications were relatively higher in the emergency C-section than those reported for elective C-section. Therefore, in order to prevent postoperative complications related to emergency C-section, gynecologists should be encouraged to decide timely for cesarean section if there is a particular indication. Also, it is required to provide considerable care to decrease the rate of maternal morbidity and mortality in these cases.