Operator experience and patient’s morbidity in cesarean section deliveries

Abstract EN

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between the operator experience and postoperative morbidity rate and to analyze the effect of residency level on the length of the operation time, hospital stay and the rate of reoperation.

Design: A Retrospective Study.

Setting: Obstetrics and Gynecology Ward, Bahrain Defense Force Hospital, Bahrain.

Method: All patients who had cesarean section between January 2017 to March 2017 were included in the study.

The operator experience levels were divided into two groups: consultants/ chief resident and senior/junior residents.

The lower segment cesarean section difficulty levels were divided into three groups: high, medium and low.

The study outcomes were the length of the operation time, hospital stay and rate of reoperation.

Result: There was no difference in the difficulty level between the two groups.

There was no difference in general anesthesia usage between the groups.

There were significantly more senior assistants with the senior operator compared to the junior group.

Surgical duration for junior operator was significantly longer than the senior operator.

There were more blood transfusion and drainage use in the junior group, but the difference was not statistically significant.

There was no difference in hospital stay, Hb drop, the need for multi-disciplinary team and complication rate between the two groups.

Conclusion: Junior resident participation does not negatively affect outcomes in patients undergoing cesarean deliveries.