Postpartum anal incontinence in women with and without obstetric anal sphincter injuries.

Introduction And Hypothesis: Postpartum anal incontinence is common and distressing for women. We sought to look at the prevalence of anal incontinence in women who sustained obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASI) compared with women who did not, and factors leading to these symptoms during the postpartum period.

Methods: A total of 129 primiparous women sustaining OASI were compared with 131 women who did not (controls).