Comparison of the effects of honey cream and olive oil cream on episiotomy repair

 Episiotomy is the most common surgery in midwifery that like any other wound, can cause infection or delayed healing. Olive oil and honey have antimicrobial and wound healing properties, so the present study was performed aimed to compare the effect of honey and olive oil on the rate of episiotomy in postpartum women.

This double-blind randomized clinical trial study was performed on 165 postpartum women in Besat Hospital of Sanandaj in 2019. Samples were randomly assigned to three groups: olive oil cream, honey cream and placebo cream. To collect data, a questionnaire of demographic and midwifery characteristics and the form of complications caused by creams and Reeda wound healing scale were used. The intervention was performed as using honey cream, olive oil cream and placebo cream every 12 hours for 10 days at the episiotomy site. Evaluation of Rida index was performed in the first 12 hours after delivery, before the intervention and on the 5th and 10th days after delivery. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 21) and analysis of variance, univariate covariance, Chi-square, and Post-Hoc. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Demographic and obstetric characteristics were the same in the three groups (p> 0.05). The mean of Reeda index on the 5th and 10th day after delivery had significant difference among the three groups (P<0.05) and decrease of Reeda index in the honey group was more than olive oil (P = 0.008).

The use of honey cream to repair episiotomy reduces infection and accelerates wound healing.