Primary repair of obstetric anal sphincter laceration: a randomized trial of two surgical techniques.

Objective: This study was undertaken to compare surgical techniques for the primary repair of obstetric anal sphincter lacerations.

Study Design: Patients with complete third- or fourth-degree lacerations were recruited and randomly assigned to either an end-to-end or overlapping repair. Data collection included demographic data, obstetric history, and intrapartum events.