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Vaginal preparation with antiseptic solution before cesarean section for preventing postoperative infections

Overview of attention for article published in Cochrane database of systematic reviews, July 2018
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  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (89th percentile)
  • Above-average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (56th percentile)

Mentioned by

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1 policy source
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23 X users
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5 Facebook pages
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1 Wikipedia page

Citations

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52 Dimensions

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181 Mendeley
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Title
Vaginal preparation with antiseptic solution before cesarean section for preventing postoperative infections
Published in
Cochrane database of systematic reviews, July 2018
DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd007892.pub6
Pubmed ID
Authors

David M Haas, Sarah Morgan, Karenrose Contreras, Savannah Enders

Abstract

Cesarean delivery is one of the most common surgical procedures performed by obstetricians. Infectious morbidity after cesarean delivery can have a tremendous impact on the postpartum woman's return to normal function and her ability to care for her baby. Despite the widespread use of prophylactic antibiotics, postoperative infectious morbidity still complicates cesarean deliveries. This is an update of a Cochrane review first published in 2010 and subsequently updated in 2012, and twice in 2014. To determine if cleansing the vagina with an antiseptic solution before a cesarean delivery decreases the risk of maternal infectious morbidities, including endometritis and wound complications. We also assessed the side effects of vaginal cleansing solutions to determine adverse events associated with the intervention. We searched Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth's Trials Register, ClinicalTrials.gov, the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (10 July 2017), and reference lists of retrieved studies. We included randomized trials and one quasi-randomized trial assessing the impact of vaginal cleansing immediately before cesarean delivery with any type of antiseptic solution versus a placebo solution/standard of care on post-cesarean infectious morbidity. Cluster-randomized trials were eligible for inclusion but none were identified. We excluded trials that utilized vaginal preparation during labor or that did not use antibiotic surgical prophylaxis. We also excluded any trials using a cross-over design. At least three of the review authors independently assessed eligibility of the studies. Two review authors were assigned to extract study characteristics, quality assessments, and data from eligible studies. We included 11 trials reporting results for 3403 women evaluating the effects of vaginal cleansing (eight using povidone-iodine, two chlorhexidine, one benzalkonium chloride) on post-cesarean infectious morbidity. Additionally, some trials used vaginal preparations using sponge sticks, douches, or soaked gauze wipes. The control groups were typically no vaginal preparation (eight trials) or the use of a saline vaginal preparation (three trials). The risk of bias in the studies reduced our confidence in the results for endometritis outcomes.Vaginal preparation with antiseptic solution immediately before cesarean delivery probably reduces the incidence of post-cesarean endometritis from 8.7% in control groups to 3.8% in vaginal cleansing groups (average risk ratio (RR) 0.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.20 to 0.63, 10 trials, 3283 women, moderate quality of evidence). Subgroup analysis could not rule out larger reductions in endometritis with antiseptics in women who were in labor or in women whose membranes had ruptured when antiseptics were used. Risks of postoperative fever and postoperative wound infection may be slightly lowered by antiseptic preparation, but the confidence intervals around the effects for both outcomes are consistent with a large reduction in risk and no difference between groups (fever: RR 0.87 (0.72 to 1.05; wound infection: RR 0.74 (95% CI 0.49 to 1.11), both moderate-quality evidence). Two trials reported a lower risk of a composite outcome of wound complication or endometritis in women receiving preoperative vaginal preparation (RR 0.46, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.82, two trials, 499 women, moderate-quality evidence). No adverse effects were reported with either the povidone-iodine or chlorhexidine vaginal cleansing. Vaginal preparation with povidone-iodine or chlorhexidine solution compared to saline or not cleansing immediately before cesarean delivery probably reduces the risk of post-cesarean endometritis. Subgroup analysis could not rule out larger reductions in endometritis with antiseptics in women who were in labor or in women whose membranes had ruptured when antiseptics were used.The quality of the evidence using GRADE was moderate for all reported outcomes. We downgraded the outcome of post-cesarean endometritis and composite of wound complications or endometritis for risk of bias and postoperative fever and postoperative wound infections for wide CIs.As a simple, generally inexpensive intervention, providers may consider implementing preoperative vaginal cleansing with povidone-iodine or chlorhexidine before performing cesarean deliveries.

X Demographics

X Demographics

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 181 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 181 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Bachelor 25 14%
Student > Master 23 13%
Researcher 19 10%
Student > Ph. D. Student 11 6%
Student > Postgraduate 9 5%
Other 36 20%
Unknown 58 32%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 70 39%
Nursing and Health Professions 19 10%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 5 3%
Social Sciences 4 2%
Immunology and Microbiology 4 2%
Other 13 7%
Unknown 66 36%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 21. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 12 April 2021.
All research outputs
#1,817,119
of 25,461,852 outputs
Outputs from Cochrane database of systematic reviews
#3,902
of 12,090 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#35,245
of 323,236 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Cochrane database of systematic reviews
#76
of 173 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,461,852 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 92nd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 12,090 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 38.2. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 70% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 323,236 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 173 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 56% of its contemporaries.