Introduction
Traditionally, episiotomy has been a routine component of
operative vaginal delivery (OVD), the aim being to avoid
injury to the anal sphincter1 and to minimise the risk of
traumatic birth for the baby. A recent national survey of
obstetricians in the UK and Ireland reported that routine
use of episiotomy was the preferred approach for forceps
birth and restrictive use for vacuum.2 Most obstetricians
(65.5%) perceived the relationship between use of episiotomy
at OVD and the risk of anal sphincter tears as protective, but
one-third reported being undecided. Clinicians are increasingly
performing OVD without the use of episiotomy despite
the absence of any rigorous formal evaluation.
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing restrictive
use of episiotomy with routine use of episiotomy during
spontaneous vaginal birth suggest that there are significant
benefits in adopting a restrictive policy, specifically a reduction
in posterior perineal tears.3 A retrospective study in the
USA suggested that in forceps birth neither the type of forceps
nor the use of episiotomy influenced the risk of significant
perineal trauma, but when vacuum delivery was performed,
episiotomy use was associated with a higher risk of perineal
trauma.4 In a Scottish population-based cohort study, anal
sphincter tears were more likely with episiotomy use both
for forceps and vacuum births, but this may have reflected
the complexity of the procedures.5 A recent large retrospective
study from the Netherlands suggested that episiotomy use was