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Scalpel versus diathermy skin incisions in cesarean sections

Objective The aim was to compare the use of diathermy versus scalpel in making skin incision during cesarean section to judge the variations in postoperative pain, incision time, incisional blood loss, operative time, wound healing, and wound complications. Background Surgical scalpels are traditionally used for making skin incisions during cesarean delivery. The evolutions in electrosurgical devices bring an alternative method for making skin incision by the usage of cutting diathermy. Patients and methods This was a prospective, randomized comparative study conducted during the period from March 2016 to February 2017 on 200 patients; 100 patients had skin incisions using the surgical scalpel, while 100 patients had skin incisions with diathermy. The comparison between the two groups was done regarding postoperative pain, incision time, incisional blood loss, operative time, wound healing, and wound complications. Results We observed a significant difference between the two groups regarding incision time (P < 0.001), incisional blood loss (P < 0.001), operative time (P < 0.001), and postoperative pain (P < 0.001), where these parameters were less in the diathermy group. No significant difference was observed between the two groups regarding wound healing (P = 0.387) and wound infection rates (P = 0.468). Conclusion The use of diathermy for skin incisions to perform cesarean section in this study was associated with reduced incisional blood loss, incisional time, operative time, and postoperative pain. It had no effect on wound complications, and was not associated with any delay in wound healing. We can conclude that the usage of diathermy in making skin incision during cesarean section in this study achieved better results than scalpel incision.