Frequency of puerperal infection with meconium stained amniotic fluid.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the association of meconium stained amniotic fluid with puerperal infection. Material, place and method: A Cohort Study was conducted from 1 st january 2018 to 30 th June 2018 in department of obstetrics & gynecology, Nishtar hospital, Multan. A total of 66 women with singleton pregnancy, gestational age 37-41 weeks of any parity undergoing elective caesarean section were eligible in study. Patients with rupture of membranes for more than 6 hours on history, diabetic patients, preterm delivery and post term delivery were excluded. During elective caesarean section, after rupture of membranes women were divided in two equal groups. 33 (50%) patients with meconium stained liquor in exposed group and 33 patients (50%) with clear liquor in un-exposed group were divided. Puerperal infection was noted when temperature of 38°C and higher on any two of first ten days postpartum excluding of first 24 hours. The data was analyzed using statistical analysis program to compare proportions between these two groups. Frequency, percentage and mean ±SD were presented for variables. Chi-square test was applied to compare puerperal infection in both groups taken p ≤0.05 as significant. Results: Age range in this study was from 18 to 35 years with mean age of 28.000± 2.27 years in Exposed Group while 26.212± 3.06 years in Unexposed Group. Mean gestational age was 38.848±1.12 weeks in exposed group while 39.060±1.11 weeks in unexposed group. Puerperal infection was seen in 63.64% patients in exposed Group as compare to 12.1% in unexposed Group (p=0.005). Conclusion: Recognition of the increased risk of infection in women with meconium stained fluid improves the perinatal outcome. Keywords: Meconium stained amniotic fluid, Puerperal infection, Association, cohort study. DOI : 10.7176/JMPB/54-17 Publication date : April 30 th 2019