Effects of olive oil sitz bath on improvement of perineal injury after delivery

Episiotomy is one of the common surgeries in the world with few complication and perineal pain. Since the olive oil has antiseptic and healing effects, this study was performed to evaluate the effects of olive oil sitz bath on improvement of perineal injury after delivery. This double blind clinical trial was carried out on 60 selected eligible women who they had mediolateral episiotomy or perineal tear grade 1 and 2. Following repairing episiotomy, the subjects were randomly allocated into two groups: the Study group was undergone care by olive oil sitz bath and the control group by distilled water sitz bath for 10 days. Data were collected through demographic data, REEDA scale and visual analog scale of pain. There was a significant difference between the study and control group with regards to pain severity after 5 and 10 days (p<0.05), wound redness after 5days (p<0.0001) and redness (p<0.000), edema (p<0.05) 10 days after delivery. Any case of ecchymosis, discharge and approximation (distance between the wound edges) was not observed in the olive group but those signs were observed in the control group. However, this difference was not statistically significant. This study suggests that olive oil to be added to routine water sitz bath for post-episiotomy care.