Ultrasound Predictability of Lower Uterine Segment Cesarean Section Scar Thickness

The objective of this study is to find out association between scar thickness, assessed sonographically, and intraoperative findings (IOF).

Descriptive study.

Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Sharif Medical and Dental College, Lahore, from June 2016 to April 2017.

A total of 70 pregnant patients were included in this study. Transabdominal ultrasound was done for scarred uteri. Sonographic findings were co-related with introperative findings. All the given data were entered on SPSS version 23. Age was expressed as mean ± SD. Parity, gestational age, and interval between cesarean sections were expressed as frequencies with percentages. Statistical analysis was done by using Chi-square test for categorical data for association between sonographic scar thickness and intraoperative findings. The statistical significance was set at p-value <0.05.

The age range of the patients was 20-36 years with a mean of 27.91 ±3.690 years. Gestational age at the time of cesarean section was between 27-40 weeks of gestation with a mean of 37 ±2.126 weeks. The interval from previous cesarean was 10 months at the minimum, and 6 years at the maximum with a mean of 2.29 ±1.0 months. Mean scar thickness was 2.5 mm. Association between scar thickness (<1-3 mm) and intaoperative findings of dehiscence and rupture showed a p-value of <0.001.

Sonographic assessment of a uterine scar has a practical application to determine the thickness of previous scar, and assess its integrity.