Egziabher et al. BMC Res Notes (2015) 8:774 DOI 10.1186/s13104-015-1771-y BMC Research Notes RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Obstetric fistula management and predictors of successful closure among women attending a public tertiary hospital in Rwanda: a retrospective review of records Tekle G. Egziabher, Ngoga Eugene, Karenzi Ben and Kateera Fredrick* Abstract Background: Globally, 50,000–100,000 women develop obstetric fistula annually. At least 33,000 of these women live in Sub-Saharan Africa where limitations in quality obstetric care and fistula corrective repairs are prevalent. Among women with fistula seeking care at public health facilities in resource-limited settings, there is paucity of data on qual- ity of care received. The aim of this study was to characterize obstetric fistula among Rwandan women managed at a public tertiary hospital and evaluate for predictors of successful fistula closures. Methods: A retrospective review of records for all obstetric fistula women managed at a public referral health facility between 2007 and 2013 was performed. Patient socio-demographics, obstetric characteristics and fistula repair out- comes data were reviewed. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyse for predictors of successful fistula repair outcomes. Results: A total of 272 women aged between 16 to 78 years and with a mean age of 34.6 years were included. Of these, 93 (34.2 %), 48 (17.6 %), 65 (24 %) and 64 (23 %) women had vesico-vaginal fistula, recto-vaginal fistula, urethro- vaginal fistula and vesico-uteral fistula types, respectively. Successful fistula closure was achieved among 86.3 %. Women with fistula who reported being in labour for 3 days, having 1 previous fistula repair attempt, and having lived with the fistula for >1 year, had significantly lower≥ odds of successful≥ repair outcomes. Conclusions: Among 272 women with obstetric fistula managed in this study, 69.5 and 26.5 % of their fistula were causally associated with obstructed labour complications and iatrogenic factors, respectively. Successful fistula closure rates of about 89 % among women of index repair attempt were achieved. Conversely, reported histories of 3 days in labour, 1 previous failed attempts at repair and a fistula duration of >1 year, were significant determinants≥ of failed fistula≥ closures. To effectively mitigate obstetric fistula burden in Rwanda, a comprehensive package of services including quality emergency obstetric care, increased availability of and access to quality fistula repair, active surveil- lance to identify community-based women with fistula and a strong political will towards effective fistula care, are recommended. Keywords: Obstetric, Fistula, Prolonged labour, Repair outcomes, Rwanda *Correspondence: [email protected] Rwanda Military Hospital, P.O. BOX 3377, Kigali, Rwanda © 2015 Egziabher et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Egziabher et al. BMC Res Notes (2015) 8:774 Page 2 of 7 Background care services and in countries where fistula care in not Obstructed labour affects more than 6 million women prioritization. These factors collectively serve to keep annually with over 90 % of these women living in the the fistula problem poorly characterized and a relative world’s poorest areas with limited access to emergency hidden public health challenge from policy markers and obstetric care and quality fistula corrective services [1, 2]. programme planners, and at all levels of health systems. Over 40,000 women are estimated to die from neglected Some of fistula associated complications include urinary, obstructed labour annually [3]. faecal or combined incontinence [11], physical and psy- An obstetric fistula is a hole between the vagina and chosocial morbidity including societal stigmatization [12, bladder (vesicovaginal fistula) or the vagina and rec- 13], marital breakdowns including divorces and separa- tum (rectovaginal fistula) that is caused by prolonged tion [14, 15], loss of income due to difficulty in securing obstructed labour, leaving a woman incontinent of urine a job [16], and reproductive system complications like or faeces, respectively [4]. In the developed world, obstet- infertility and amenorrhea [17, 18]. ric fistula cases are rare with the commonest aetiologies Currently in Rwanda, there are no available accurate data of the few cases observed including malignancies, radia- on the prevalence or incidence of obstetric fistula. Anec- tion therapy, pelvic surgery, infections and trauma. In the dotal information from health facilities and occasional sur- developing world where fistula are prevalent, most fistula gical camps targeting management of community based arise from tissue destruction associated with prolonged obstetric fistula cases suggest that fistula is a public health pressure of the foetal head or presenting parts during concern. By end of 2014, on-going fistula repair programs obstructed labour. were available primariry at two referrals [Ruhengeri and Conservatively, an estimated 2–3 million women Rwanda Military Hospitals (RMH)] and the University live with untreated obstetric fistula. The World Health Teaching Hospital of Kigali. According to the fistula care Organization (WHO) estimates that about 50,000–100, project-Rwanda, 1190 fistula cases were reported to have 000 women develop obstetric fistula annually with at been repaired between 2006 and 2011 [19]. Since June 2012, least 33,000 of these located in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) the Ministry of Health—Rwanda, in collaboration with [5–7]. Unfortunately, data on the burden of obstetric fis- implementing partners, as part of reinforcing health facil- tula are scarce with the available information generally ity capacity to provide care and treatment to mothers with drawn from self-reports, personal communications from fistula, set up a target of establishing a 3 level hierarchical surgical teams, data aggregated from advocacy groups fistula repair model including, (1) two level-3 facilities with and organizations like Engender Health and United advanced fistula surgeons mandated with offering fistula Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and record reviews repair services and training other medical personnel in fis- of hospital services. The estimates generated from these tula care management, (2) three level-2 facilities with capac- are often incomplete and mostly inaccurate and hence, ity to provide simple fistula repair on a routine basis and to the reported statistics are generally considered under- refer complex cases to level-3 facilities, and (3) three level-1 estimates of the fistula burden. In a recent review that facilities with equipment to support fistula prevention and/ aimed at estimating the global prevalence and incidence or act as outreach sites for community fistula repair projects of obstetric fistula, only 19 studies were selected: Most [19]. Following this increased attention to the fistula issue, of these studies did not have a nationally representa- the paucity of local data must be addressed and thus, this tive sample and very few had been conducted in South study aimed at characterizing obstetric fistula among Rwan- Asia. This review estimated the total number of fistula dan women managed at a public tertiary hospital and evalu- and number of new fistula cases in the two most affected ate for predictors of successful fistula closures. regions of SSA and South Asia to be just over one million and an estimated 6000 cases per year, respectively [8]. Methods In developing counties, obstetric fistula are a public Study design and period health challenge associated with inadequate emergency A retrospective review of medical records for women obstetric care, limited fistula repair services and a lack of with obstetric fistula managed between January 2007 and fistula surgeons to manage the affected women [9]. Com- December 2013 was conducted. pounding this challenge is the limited knowledge among those affected on where to access fistula care. In the East Study site African region for example, at least 80 % of women with Rwanda Military Hospital (RMH) is a tertiary training fistula are estimated to be lacking fistula repair services and referral hospital located in Kigali city and serving each year [10]. In addition, fistula affect mainly marginal- the general population. Within the study period, RMH ized groups of uneducated young females mostly living in employed a full time experienced fistula surgeon who geographical remote settings with limited to no obstetric managed all study participants included in this analysis. Egziabher et al. BMC Res Notes (2015) 8:774 Page 3 of 7 Inclusion and exclusion criteria (surgical repair materials) support from an implement- All (272) women who visited RMH either as referrals or ing partner, all enrolled women in this study returned for self-initiated and who were diagnosed with and man- their post-surgical follow-up visit. aged for obstetric fistula were included in this study. In contrast, all women whose fistula repairs