Patient’s characteristics and incidence of fecal incontinence after primary repair of Obstetric Anal Sphincter Injuries (OASIS) at three Indonesian tertiary hospitals in 2014–2016

INTRODUCTION: Obstetric Anal Sphincter Injuries (OASIS) is a common complication of vaginal delivery. The incidence was 4.53 % of total vaginal deliveries. OASIS is associated with an increased risk of fecal incontinence (FI), which affects one’s quality of life. The incidence of OASIS and FI varied from study to study. In this study, we described the characteristics of patients with OASIS at three Indonesian tertiary hospitals in 2014−2016 and FI outcome among those patients. METHODOLOGY: This is a descriptive study on the characteristics of OASIS patients after primary repair in three tertiary hospitals: dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo National General Hospital, Persahabatan General Hospital and Fatmawati General Hospital from 2014 to 2016. From a total of 234 patients, only 58 patients could be contacted and interviewed using Revised Fecal Incontinence Score (RFIS) questionnaires. Out of the 58 patients, only 16 patients came for transperineal ultrasound. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. RESULTS: From a total of 234 patients, the mean age was 26.6 years old with a mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of 24.8 kg/m(2). Most of the patients were nulliparous (67.5 %) and the median duration of second stage of labor was 45 min. Episiotomy was not performed on most patients (59.4 %) and most of them underwent spontaneous vaginal delivery (65.4 %) with mean baby’s birthweight of 3217 g. From 58 interviewed patients, three patients complained of FI (5.2 %). Sixteen patients came for transperineal ultrasound examination, and only one of them had FI. Anal sphincter defects were identified in five patients, comprising three external anal sphincter (EAS) and two internal anal sphincter (IAS) defects. All five patients did not experience FI. One patient who had FI had no anal sphincter defect. DISCUSSION: This is a pilot study for the incidence of FI among the OASIS population in Jakarta, Indonesia. The incidence of FI observed in this study was relatively low (3 out of 58 patients) compared to other studies. This could be due to differences in study population. The fact that the patient with FI had intact anal sphincter suggests that other factors may contribute to the development of FI in addition to the integrity of the anal sphincter. These factors may include pelvic floor muscle and innervation of the surrounding tissues. CONCLUSION: The outcomes of primary repair of OASIS varied between studies. Patients’ characteristics might play an important role in the development of OASIS as well as the outcome after repair. Further studies with larger sample size are needed.