Incidence of Oligohydramnios – Amniotic Fluid Index (AFI) Versus Single Deepest Pocket (SDP)

Aim: The aim of the study is to determine the incidence of oligohydramnios using ultrsonographic assessment of the amniotic fluid and compare the incidence between AFI and SDP.

Study Design: A prospective cross sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Obstetrics and Gynecology department of St Elizabeth Specialist Hospital, Owerri, Imo State from January 31 to December 31, 2015.

Methodology: This is a prospective study involving 400 healthy women carrying uncomplicated singleton pregnancies referred to St Elizabeth Specialist, Owerri for ultrasound scanning in pregnancy from Jan 31 to Dec 31, 2015. The age of the women, gestational age based on last menstrual cycle and the parity were all taken.

With the women in the semi-Fowler position and using Moore and Cayle technique the AFI and SDP were obtained.

Data analysis is done with IBM SPSS statistics version 21.

Results: Of the 400 pregnant women scanned, their age ranged from16 years to 42 years with a mean of 27.97years. Their gestational age from LMP ranged from 14 weeks to 41weeks with a mean of 29.25 weeks. Seventeen of the women had an AFI <5 (oligoydramnios), which is an incidence of 4.3%, while only five had SDP <2cm, an incidence of 1.3%. The incidence of oligohydramnios was significantly (P=0.001) higher in the third trimester with all the seventeen with AFI <5 and all the 5 with SDP <2cm occurring in the third trimester.

Conclusion: The AFI compared with the SDP excessively characterizes patients as having oligohydramnios.