Is vaginal birth after cesarean section a risk factor for obstetric anal sphincter injury?

Objective: To investigate whether women undergoing their first vaginal delivery after a previous cesarean section (secundiparous) are at increased risk for obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASI) compared with primiparous women.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 85 428 women who delivered vaginally over a 10-year period in a single tertiary medical center. Incidence of OASI, risk factors, and clinical characteristics were compared between primiparous women who delivered vaginally and secundiparous women who underwent their first vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC). A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to study the association between VBAC and OASI.

Results: Overall, 36 250 primiparous and 1602 secundiparous women were enrolled, 309 of whom had OASI. The rates of OASI were similar among secundiparous women who had VBAC and primiparous women who underwent vaginal delivery (15 [0.94%] vs 294 [0.81%], P = 0.58). The proportions of third- and fourth-degree tears were also similar among secundiparous and primiparous women who experienced OASI (87% vs 91.5%, and 13% vs 8.5%, respectively, P = 0.68). Furthermore, the rates of OASI were similar in both study groups, although secundiparous women who underwent VBAC had higher rates of birth weights exceeding 3500 g (414 [25.8%] vs 8284 [22.8%], P = 0.016), and higher rates of vacuum-assisted deliveries (338 [21%] vs 6224 [17.2%], P < 0.001). A multivariate logistic regression analysis failed to establish a statistically significant association between VBAC and OASI (odds ratio 0.672, 95% confidence interval 0.281-1.61, P = 0.37).

Conclusions: No increased risk for OASI was found in secundiparous women who underwent VBAC compared with primiparous women at their first vaginal birth.