Prevalence Of Postoperative Pain In Primary Versus Repeated Cesarean Section Delivery At Mardan Medical Complex: Comparative Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: In relation to this, the ever-increasing rate of cesarean deliveries worldwide also reflected the value of its application in complicated births. Rates of cesarean delivery in most countries had gone up over a few decades and already exceeded the World Health Organization-recommended 10-15% of all births.   Every time, effective management of postoperative pain forms a vital element of optimum recovery from cesarean section (CS) deliveries patients.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and intensity of postoperative pain among women undergoing primary (first-time) cesarean section versus those undergoing repeated cesarean section at Mardan Medical Complex.

Methods: This study was carried at department of Anesthesia in a tertiary care hospital; Mardan Medical Complex. Total four to six months duration after approval from hospital ASRB. This sample size has been calculated for this study through Open-Epi. The anticipated frequency is   87% and the level of confidence interval is 95% and a margin of error of 5%. So, the estimated total sample size is 174 and Convenient Non-Probability Sampling technique was used.

Result: The study results showed that 63.2% of the participants responded with pain in the abdomen as their main postoperative complaint; other examples include pelvic (19.5%) and back pain (17.2%). For analyzed pain duration, 50.6% of the study participants reported pain lasting from 1 to 3 days while prolonged pain (>3 days) was recorded more in patients undergoing repeated cesareans (29.9%). The Chi-square analysis showed a highly significant association between delivery mode and pain duration (p < 0.001). Repeated cesarean patients were having longer recovery periods whose sample size in this study was 174. Although 55.2% of the total participants had an experience of decreasing intensity of pain with time, 26.4% experienced no change while 18.4% had increasing pain thus marking variability in pain progression.

Conclusion: These findings illustrated an individualized approach to pain management protocol, especially among repeated cesarean patients, where pain management strategies may need to be lengthened or intensified. This study is directing the formation of specific postoperative care interventions that reduce pain and promote faster recovery for cesarean patients by describing pain patterns/durations associated with primary and repeat CS.