In a study of women who had just undergone caesarean delivery, those who wore binders reported less pain on the second postoperative day, although their use of ibuprofen on that day exceeded that of controls.
“Abdominal binders have been shown to improve postoperative pain and distress following major abdominal surgery but their effect on caesarean section recovery has never been studied,” said Jennifer R. Myers, St. Luke’s University Health Network, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
For the study, women who had a caesarean delivery were randomised to receive binders (n = 87) or not (n = 60). On postoperative days 1 and 2, patients were asked to complete a pain visual analogue scale and the validated Symptom Distress Scale.
On the first post-operative day, no significant differences were found between the groups for pain using a visual analogue scale (mean VAS for the binder group was 3.0 vs 3.7 for controls).
However, on day 2, the VAS score for the binder group was significantly less than that of controls (P = .01).
No differences between groups were found in distress using the validated Symptom Distress Scale on either day 1 or day 2.
On the second postoperative day, women who wore a binder consumed significantly more ibuprofen than those who did not (approximately 1,150 mg vs 800 mg; P<.001).
“Since the majority of measurements showed no significant difference and given there are no known disadvantages to the use of abdominal binders after caesarean section, we suggest continuing to offer their use to patients,” says Dr. Myers.
The findings were presented last week at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
SOURCE: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists