Postnatal perineal edema assessment: agreement among observers

Abstract

Perineal trauma produced during vaginal delivery is frequent, and there are no clinically validated evaluation scales available. The aim was to analyze the reliability of a tool to assess the vulvoperineal region during the postnatal period. This is an observational study conducted at the University Hospital of Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil. Thirty women with vaginal delivery were analyzed. The tool was built and evaluated in three stages: admission, 1-2, and 24-36 hours after delivery. Reliability analysis was carried out, and Kappa coefficient presented excellent, good, or marginal agreement to identify, respectively, 13, 20, and 13 parameters related to the pudendal chink, major and minor labia, clitoris, and perineal body. The conclusions were that the tool may be partially validated due to the reliability showed by the results, and that it must be modified, taking into consideration the individual characteristics of each woman, and changes that do not cause morbidity, which clinical evaluation is irrelevant.