Early Post-Cesarean Rehabilitation in A Tertiary Hospital in Burkina Faso

Introduction: early post-caesarean rehabilitation could be an ideal alternative in terms of direct health savings for the parturient and indirect for the community. Objective: Studying the effects of early rehabilitation after caesarean section in women at Yalgado Ouedraogo teaching hospital (YOTH) Methodology: This was a cohort study comparing two groups of patients who underwent a scheduled caesarean section from 7th May to 4th September, 2020 in the obstetrics department of YOTH. Group 1 consisted of women benefiting from the early rehabilitation protocol (n=124) and group 2 consisted of non-rehabilitated women (n=124). Results: The times of first getting up (p=0.01), walking (p<0.05), first drink (p=0.0001), removal of the urinary catheter (p<0.05), and urination (p<0.05) were significantly reduced in group 1. There was no statistically significant difference in postoperative pain. The mean time to first urination after removal of the urinary catheter was 18.8 ± 4.3 hours in the rehabilitated operated group versus 28 ± 10.5 hours in the non-rehabilitated group (p < 0.05). The first rise took place on average 7.2 ± 1.5 hours after the cesarean section in the rehabilitated group versus 8.1 ± 3.7 hours in the non-rehabilitated group (p=0.01). There was a significant reduction in length of stay (p < 0.05) and cost of treatment (p=0.) Conclusion: The early rehabilitation protocol after caesarean allows a significant improvement in terms of functional recovery, length of stay and cost of treatment.