Summary
Abdominal binders are effective for improving postoperative pain and distress following major abdominal surgery. An abdominal binder is a surgical body garment used in the early postoperative phase to support the abdomen. The use of abdominal binders in women recovering from a cesarean section has never been studied. The purpose of the Use of Abdominal Binders in Patients Undergoing Caesarean Sections randomized, open-label efficacy study (NCT02129894) was to evaluate the efficacy of abdominal binders for alleviating postpartum pain and distress following a cesarean section.
- Obstetrics & Gynecology Clinical Trials
- Pregnancy
- Diagnostic & Surgical Procedures
- Obstetrics & Gynecology Clinical Trials
- Obstetrics & Gynecology
- Pregnancy
- Diagnostic & Surgical Procedures
Abdominal binders are effective for improving postoperative pain and distress following major abdominal surgery. An abdominal binder is a surgical body garment used in the early postoperative phase to support the abdomen. The use of abdominal binders in women recovering from a cesarean section has never been studied. The purpose of the Use of Abdominal Binders in Patients Undergoing Caesarean Sections randomized, open-label efficacy study (NCT02129894), presented by Jennifer R. Myers, DO, of St. Luke's University Health Network, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA, was to evaluate the efficacy of abdominal binders for alleviating postpartum pain and distress following a cesarean section.
The study participants were drawn from the population of all women aged 18 to 50 years who were admitted to the labor and delivery department at 2 hospitals from July 5, 2013, to November 28, 2013. Women who underwent cesarean section and provided informed consent were randomized to receive or not receive an abdominal binder for postsurgical use. On postoperative Days 1 and 2, the women were asked to complete a visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and the validated Symptom Distress Scale (SDS). Postoperative hemoglobin and hematocrit values and pain medication use were recorded. Data analysis was performed using Student's t test.
A total of 150 women were enrolled in the study. Baseline characteristics were well balanced between the binder and no-binder groups, including age (30.1 and 28.0 years, respectively), gravity (2.6 and 2.6), parity (0.9 and 0.8), number of prior cesarean sections (0.7 and 0.7), gestational age (38.8 and 38.5), and body mass index (34 and 32.5 kg/m2).
On postoperative Day 1, VAS scores were 3.0 in the binder group compared with about 3.75 in the no-binder group (Figure 1). On average, women in the binder group used almost 1200 mg of ibuprofen per day compared with 800 mg in the no-binder group.
On postoperative Day 2, VAS scores were significantly lower in the binder group compared with the no-binder group (p=0.010). Pain medication use was significantly lower in the no-binder group compared with the binder group (p<0.001).
There were no differences in SDS scores or hemoglobin and hematocrit values between the groups on postoperative Day 1 or 2. The dropout rate was much higher in the no-binder group than in the binder group.
The use of postoperative abdominal binders in women who underwent cesarean section was associated with a significantly lower VAS score on postoperative Day 2, but ibuprofen use was increased compared with women who did not use abdominal binders. There was no difference in patient distress between the 2 groups. The higher dropout rate in the no-binder group may suggest a preference for using abdominal binders. Given that there were no significant differences in most of the measurements and that there appears to be no medical disadvantages associated with the use of abdominal binders after cesarean section, Dr. Myers suggested that abdominal binders continue to be used postoperatively.
Visual Analog Scale Scores on Postoperative Day 1
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