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Objective: To evaluate the cost‐effectiveness of incisional negative pressure wound therapy (iNPWT) in preventing surgical site infection in obese women after caesarean section. Design: A cost‐effectiveness analysis conducted alongside a clinical trial. Setting: Five obstetric departments in Denmark. Population: Women with a pregestational body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m2. Method: We used data from a randomised controlled trial of 876 obese women who underwent elective or emergency caesarean section and were subsequently treated with iNPWT (n = 432) or a standard dressing (n = 444). Costs were estimated using data from four Danish National Databases and analysed from a healthcare perspective with a time horizon of 3 months after birth. Main outcome measures: Cost‐effectiveness based on incremental cost per surgical site infection avoided and per quality‐adjusted life‐year (QALY) gained. Results: The total healthcare costs per woman were €5793.60 for iNPWT and €5840.89 for standard dressings. Incisional NPWT was the dominant strategy because it was both less expensive and more effective; however, no statistically significant difference was found for costs or QALYs. At a willingness‐to‐pay threshold of €30,000, the probability of the intervention being cost‐effective was 92.8%. A subgroup analysis stratifying by BMI shows that the cost saving of the intervention was mainly driven by the benefit to women with a pre‐pregnancy BMI ≥35 kg/m2. Conclusion: Incisional NPWT appears to be cost saving compared with standard dressings but this finding is not statistically significant. The cost savings were primarily found in women with a pre‐pregnancy BMI ≥35 kg/m2. Prophylactic incisional NPWT reduces the risk of SSI after caesarean section and is probably dominant compared with standard dressings #healtheconomics. Prophylactic incisional NPWT reduces the risk of SSI after caesarean section and is probably dominant compared with standard dressings #healtheconomics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the reduction of surgical site infections by prophylactic incisional negative pressure wound therapy compared with standard postoperative dressings in obese women giving birth by caesarean section. Design: Multicentre randomised controlled trial. Setting: Five hospitals in Denmark. Population: Obese women (prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m2) undergoing elective or emergency caesarean section. Method: The participants were randomly assigned to incisional negative pressure wound therapy or a standard dressing after caesarean section and analysed by intention‐to‐treat. Blinding was not possible due to the nature of the intervention. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was surgical site infection requiring antibiotic treatment within the first 30 days after surgery. Secondary outcomes included wound exudate, dehiscence and health‐related quality of life. Results: Incisional negative pressure wound therapy was applied to 432 women and 444 women had a standard dressing. Demographics were similar between groups. Surgical site infection occurred in 20 (4.6%) women treated with incisional negative pressure wound therapy and in 41 (9.2%) women treated with a standard dressing (relative risk 0.50, 95% CI 0.30–0.84; number needed to treat 22; P = 0.007). The effect remained statistically significant when adjusted for BMI and other potential risk factors. Incisional negative pressure wound therapy significantly reduced wound exudate whereas no difference was found for dehiscence and quality of life between the two groups. Conclusion: Prophylactic use of incisional negative pressure wound therapy reduced the risk of surgical site infection in obese women giving birth by caesarean section. RCT: prophylactic incisional NPWT versus standard dressings postcaesarean in 876 women significantly reduces the risk of SSI. RCT: prophylactic incisional NPWT versus standard dressings postcaesarean in 876 women significantly reduces the risk of SSI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the cosmetic result of using incisional negative-pressure wound therapy (iNPWT) compared with standard postsurgical dressings in obese women undergoing cesarean delivery (CD)., Methods: Postcesarean scars were objectively evaluated 6 and 12 months postsurgery by a plastic surgeon using the Manchester Scar Scale and the Stony Brook Scar Evaluation Scale. Subjective scar evaluation and health-related quality of life were assessed using the Patient Scar Assessment Scale and the EQ-5D-5L instrument, respectively. Main outcome measures were the cosmetic and functional outcome of treating a standardized surgical wound with iNPWT compared with standard dressings, changes in scar rating over time, and testing different scar scales for cosmetic evaluation., Results: The study found no difference in long-term cosmetic outcomes between iNPWT and standard dressings. The study demonstrated a statistically significant positive change in scar rating from surgery to 12 months postsurgery. A strong association was found between the scar scales with a high correlation between the objective scar scales (R approximately 0.80) and a moderate correlation between the subjective scale and each objective scale (R approximately 0.50)., Conclusions: Prophylactic iNPWT has been found to reduce the risk of surgical site infection following CD. Conversely, this study was not able to detect a difference in the long-term cosmetic result after CD when compared with standard dressings.

Purpose: To evaluate vision and corneal surface regularity after each step of a three-step surgical treatment of keratoconus and post-laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) ectasia (implantation of intracorneal ring segments [ICRS], corneal cross-linking [CXL], and implantation of toric intraocular contact lenses [ICLs])., Methods: Thirty-one eyes of 24 patients with moderate to severe keratoconus and post-LASIK ectasia (stages II and III of Amsler-Krumeich classification) were included. All eyes underwent all three steps. The time interval between ICRS implantation and CXL was 4 to 6 weeks, and ICL implantation was performed 6 to 8 months after CXL. Visual acuity, refraction, and corneal topometric indices were evaluated with the Pentacam system (index of surface variance [ISV], index of vertical asymmetry [IVA], keratoconus index [KI], central keratoconus index [CKI], index of height asymmetry [IHA], index of height decentration [IHD], and corneal wavefront parameters [eg, higher order aberrations, spherical aberration, and coma])., Results: Decimal uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) improved from 0.13 ± 0.17 preoperatively to 0.69 ± 0.18 at 1 year, whereas corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) improved from 0.56 ± 0.24 to 0.80 ± 0.18, respectively. The topometric indices ISV, IVA, KI, and IHD also improved significantly, whereas CKI and IHA showed no significant improvement. Higher order aberrations, spherical aberration, and coma improved significantly compared to baseline., Conclusions: The combined use of ICRS, CXL, and ICL implantation significantly improves visual acuity, higher order aberrations, and corneal shape in moderate and severe keratoconus and post-LASIK ectasia. [J Refract Surg. 2020;36(2):104-109.]., (Copyright 2020, SLACK Incorporated.)

Background & Aims: Hypovitaminosis D, defined as serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (s-25(OH)D) <50 nmol/L, is frequent in pregnant women and neonates worldwide and has been associated with both low birth weight (BW) and placental weight (PW) as well as reduced placental development. We aimed to assess the prevalence and the risk factors of cord vitamin D deficiency (s-25(OH)D <25 nmol/L) and insufficiency (s-25(OH)D 25-50 nmol/L) and to evaluate the association between cord s-25(OH)D levels and neonatal outcomes (BW, PW and PW/BW ratio)., Methods: Women enrolled in Odense Child Cohort, a Danish observational prospective population-based cohort, who gave birth to singletons and donated a blood sample for s-25(OH)D measurements were included (n = 2082)., Results: The prevalence of cord vitamin D deficiency was 16.7% and 41.0% for insufficiency. White skin, winter season at birth, maternal supplementation dose of <15 μg/day, non-western ethnicity and high body mass index (BMI) were identified as independent risk factors of both vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency. Adherence to the recommended vitamin D supplementation dose (10 μg/day) was reported by 87% (primipara 91% vs. multipara 81%, p < 0.0001). An U-shaped relationship between cord s-25(OH)D and BW was visualized by spline regression (p = 0.003). After adjustment, cord s-25(OH)D was positively associated with BW (β = 1.522, p = 0.026), PW (β = 0.927, p < 0.001) and PW/BW ratio (β = 0.018, p < 0.001), largely driven by positive associations for cord s-25(OH)D >60 nmol/L., Conclusion: Cord hypovitaminosis D was present in 57.7%. Multipara was identified as a novel risk factor of non-adherence to vitamin D supplementation recommendations; and a maternal supplementation dose <15 μg/day as a novel, independent risk factor of cord hypovitaminosis D. Higher BW, PW, and PW/BW ratio were associated to higher cord s-25(OH)D levels with a suggested cut-off at 60 nmol/L. More studies are encouraged to elucidate the impact of cord s-25(OH)D levels on offspring health and to establish optimal cut-offs for these outcomes., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.)

Background: Spontaneous abortion is the most commonly observed adverse pregnancy outcome. The angiogenic factors soluble Fms-like kinase 1 and placental growth factor are critical for normal pregnancy and may be associated to spontaneous abortion., Objective: We investigated the association between maternal serum concentrations of soluble Fms-like kinase 1 and placental growth factor, and subsequent spontaneous abortion., Study Design: In the prospective observational Odense Child Cohort, 1676 pregnant women donated serum in early pregnancy, gestational week <22 (median 83 days of gestation, interquartile range 71-103). Concentrations of soluble Fms-like kinase 1 and placental growth factor were determined with novel automated assays. Spontaneous abortion was defined as complete or incomplete spontaneous abortion, missed abortion, or blighted ovum <22+0 gestational weeks, and the prevalence was 3.52% (59 cases). The time-dependent effect of maternal serum concentrations of soluble Fms-like kinase 1 and placental growth factor on subsequent late first-trimester or second-trimester spontaneous abortion (n = 59) was evaluated using a Cox proportional hazards regression model, adjusting for body mass index, parity, season of blood sampling, and age. Furthermore, receiver operating characteristics were employed to identify predictive values and optimal cut-off values., Results: In the adjusted Cox regression analysis, increasing continuous concentrations of both soluble Fms-like kinase 1 and placental growth factor were significantly associated with a decreased hazard ratio for spontaneous abortion: soluble Fms-like kinase 1, 0.996 (95% confidence interval, 0.995-0.997), and placental growth factor, 0.89 (95% confidence interval, 0.86-0.93). When analyzed by receiver operating characteristic cut-offs, women with soluble Fms-like kinase 1 <742 pg/mL had an odds ratio for spontaneous abortion of 12.1 (95% confidence interval, 6.64-22.2), positive predictive value of 11.70%, negative predictive value of 98.90%, positive likelihood ratio of 3.64 (3.07-4.32), and negative likelihood ratio of 0.30 (0.19-0.48). For placental growth factor <19.7 pg/mL, odds ratio was 13.2 (7.09-24.4), positive predictive value was 11.80%, negative predictive value was 99.0%, positive likelihood ratio was 3.68 (3.12-4.34), and negative likelihood ratio was 0.28 (0.17-0.45). In the sensitivity analysis of 54 spontaneous abortions matched 1:4 to controls on gestational age at blood sampling, the highest area under the curve was seen for soluble Fms-like kinase 1 in prediction of first-trimester spontaneous abortion, 0.898 (0.834-0.962), and at the optimum cut-off of 725 pg/mL, negative predictive value was 51.4%, positive predictive value was 94.6%, positive likelihood ratio was 4.04 (2.57-6.35), and negative likelihood ratio was 0.22 (0.09-0.54)., Conclusion: A strong, novel prospective association was identified between lower concentrations of soluble Fms-like kinase 1 and placental growth factor measured in early pregnancy and spontaneous abortion. A soluble Fms-like kinase 1 cut-off <742 pg/mL in maternal serum was optimal to stratify women at high vs low risk of spontaneous abortion. The cause and effect of angiogenic factor alterations in spontaneous abortions remain to be elucidated., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Millions of doses of HPV vaccine have been administered globally. Inadvertent administration of HPV vaccine during pregnancy occurs given that the main recipients of the vaccine are fertile young women, who might be unaware of their pregnancy at the time of their vaccination. To investigate the subject of HPV vaccine and pregnancy , the databases of PubMed and Embase were searched to find the relevant literature published in English within the last 10 y. Most of the evidence pertaining to fetal adverse events following HPV vaccination relates to spontaneous miscarriage. None of the relevant studies found any significantly increased rate of spontaneous abortion in the overall analyses. There was no indication of other HPV vaccine-associated adverse events in pregnancy or immediately post-conception.

Background: Postoperative wound complications are common following surgical procedures. Negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is well recognized for the management of open wounds and has been applied recently to closed surgical incisions. The evidence base to support this intervention is limited. The aim of this study was to assess whether NPWT reduces postoperative wound complications when applied to closed surgical incisions., Methods: This was a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials of NPWT compared with standard postoperative dressings on closed surgical incisions., Results: Ten studies met the inclusion criteria, reporting on 1311 incisions in 1089 patients. NPWT was associated with a significant reduction in wound infection (relative risk (RR) 0·54, 95 per cent c.i. 0·33 to 0·89) and seroma formation (RR 0·48, 0·27 to 0·84) compared with standard care. The reduction in wound dehiscence was not significant. The numbers needed to treat were three (seroma), 17 (dehiscence) and 25 (infection). Methodological heterogeneity across studies led to downgrading of the quality of evidence to moderate for infection and seroma, and low for dehiscence., Conclusion: Compared with standard postoperative dressings, NPWT significantly reduced the rate of wound infection and seroma when applied to closed surgical wounds. Heterogeneity between the included studies means that no general recommendations can be made yet., (© 2016 The Authors. BJS published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of BJS Society Ltd.)

Objective: to explore and describe how healthcare professionals in the Southern Region of Denmark experienced motivational interviewing as a communication method when working with pregnant women with obesity., Design: a qualitative, descriptive study based on face-to-face interviews with 11 obstetric healthcare professionals working in a perinatal setting., Methods: a thematic descriptive method was applied to semi-structured interviews. The healthcare professional's experiences were recorded verbatim during individual semi-structured qualitative interviews, transcribed, and analysed using a descriptive analysis methodology., Findings: motivational interviewing was found to be a useful method when communicating with obese pregnant women. The method made the healthcare professionals more aware of their own communication style both when encountering pregnant women and in their interaction with colleagues. However, most of the healthcare professionals emphasised that time was crucial and they had to be dedicated to the motivational interviewing method. The healthcare professionals further stated that it enabled them to become more professional in their daily work and made some of them feel less 'burned out', 'powerless' and 'stressed' as they felt they had a communication method in handling difficult workloads., Conclusion: healthcare professionals experienced motivational interviewing to be a useful method when working perinatally. The motivational interviewing method permitted heightened awareness of the healthcare professionals communication method with the patients and increased their ability to handle a difficult workload. Overall, lack of time restricted the use of the motivational interviewing method on a daily basis., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

There is now incontrovertible evidence that HPV is the cause of almost all cases of genital warts, cervical dysplasia and cervical cancer. Moreover the current review of the recent literature on HPV in relation to pregnancy found strong indications that HPV plays an important role in adverse outcomes of pregnancy. HPV may contribute to infertility and may increase the risk of miscarriage. Recent studies indicate a significant rate of vertical transmission of HPV between mother and child but whether the mode of delivery makes a difference to the risk of transmission remains unknown. HPV infection appears to be correlated with both spontaneous preterm birth and preterm prelabor rupture of the membranes.

Introduction: Preterm birth is the major cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity in high-income countries. The etiology of preterm birth is multifactorial but there is overwhelming evidence to implicate infection as a major cause. Abnormal genital tract flora in early pregnancy is predictive of preterm birth so it is logical to consider the use of antibiotics for the prevention of preterm birth., Areas Covered: Infection and antibiotics in the etiology, prediction and prevention of preterm birth., Expert Opinion: Antibiotics for the prevention of preterm birth have addressed different risk groups, diagnostic methods, degrees of abnormal flora, antibiotic dose regimens, routes of administration, host susceptibilities, host response, gestational age at time of treatment, outcome parameters and definitions of success and outcomes. To address this confusion, a number of systematic reviews/meta-analyses have been conducted but none has simultaneously addressed the optimal choice of agent, patient and timing of intervention. We conclude that inappropriate antibiotics used in inappropriate women at inappropriately late gestations do not reduce preterm birth. Conversely, a focused systematic review/meta-analysis, which targeted the use of clindamycin before 22 weeks gestation, in women with objective evidence of abnormal genital tract flora, demonstrated that clindamycin produced a significant decrease in late miscarriage and preterm birth.

Purpose of Review: Vitamin D status (which is involved in glucose homeostasis) is related to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). GDM is characterized by increased resistance to and impaired secretion of insulin and results in higher risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes including operative delivery, macrosomia, shoulder dystocia and neonatal hypoglycemia. Women with GDM and their babies are at increased risk for developing type II diabetes., Recent Findings: International definitions of vitamin D deficiency and normality are inconsistent. Vitamin D deficiency is common in pregnant women particularly those with poor diets and who have dark skins living in temperate climes with lack of exposure to sunlight., Summary: Few interventional studies indicate that supplementation optimizes maternal vitamin D status or improves maternal glucose metabolism. Observational studies about maternal vitamin D status and risk of GDM are conflicting. This could be because of measurement of vitamin D or differences in population characteristics such as ethnicity, geographic location, gestational age at sampling and diagnostic criteria for GDM. Good-quality randomized controlled trials are required to determine whether vitamin D supplementation decreases the risk of GDM or improves glucose tolerance in diabetic women.

Objective: To examine the experience of women with a pre-pregnant BMI >30 kg/m², in their encounters with healthcare professionals during pregnancy., Design: Qualitative study using a phenomenological methodology approach., Setting: Face-to-face interviews with pregnant women in their own home who were referred from their general practitioner to specialist antenatal follow-up at their local hospital., Sample: Sixteen women with pre-pregnant BMI >30 kg/m²., Methods: Qualitative in-depth interviews. Participant's experiences of their encounters with health care professionals were recorded verbatim, transcribed and analysed using a phenomenological approach., Results: Two main themes were identified, an accusatorial response from healthcare professionals and a lack of advice and helpful information on how being obese and pregnant might affect the women's health and that of their child., Conclusions: Pregnant women with obesity may experience prejudice from healthcare professionals. These women felt they were treated with a lack of respect, an accusatorial response, and the feeling that information which could have been helpful was not forthcoming. Communication between obese pregnant woman and healthcare professionals appears to be lacking. Improved training in communication skills, less judgemental behaviour and better dissemination of information from healthcare professionals working with pregnant women with obesity are needed., (© 2013 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.)

Background: Approximately 1-2% of women suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) postnatally. This review aims to elucidate how women at risk can be identified., Methods: A systematic search of the published literature was carried out using the MEDLINE database (November 2003 to 29 October 2010) with both MeSH terms and free text. Thirty-one studies were considered appropriate for qualitative synthesis. Articles were included on the basis of (a) publication pertaining to PTSD following childbirth, (b) study carried out in Western Europe and (c) publication written in English. The results were primarily based on observational studies. The literature was thoroughly read and results were compiled. Furthermore, a novel quality rating system was employed to minimize the impact of bias., Results: Subjective distress in labor and obstetrical emergencies were the most important risk factors. Infant complications, low support during labor and delivery, psychological difficulties in pregnancy, previous traumatic experiences, and obstetrical emergencies were identified as risk factors., Conclusions: We have identified factors both strongly associated and non-associated with PTSD following childbirth. While the literature is limited by methodological shortcomings, a hypothesis regarding the development of PTSD is outlined, and recommendations with respect to screening and future research are provided., (© 2012 The Authors Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica© 2012 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.)