Joel‐Cohen or Pfannenstiel incision at cesarean delivery: does it make a difference?

Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 2002; 81: 1040-1046. © Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 2002 Objective. To evaluate whether the technique to open the abdomen might influence the operative time and the maternal and neonatal outcome. Methods. All consecutive women who underwent a cesarean section at a gestational age greater than or equal to 32 weeks were randomly allocated to have either the Joel-Cohen or the Pfannenstiel incision. Exclusion criteria were two or more previous cesarean sections and previous longitudinal abdominal incision. During the study period 366 patients underwent a cesarean delivery. Of these patients, 56 did not meet the inclusion criteria. The remaining patients were allocated to the Joel-Cohen ( n = 152) group and to the Pfannenstiel ( n = 158) group. Extraction time was defined as the time interval from skin incision to the clamping of the umbilical cord. Results. The total operative time was similar in both groups [Joel-Cohen 32 min (12-60) vs. Pfannenstiel 33 min (18-70)]. The extraction tim...