Evaluation of the Weekly Cervical Examination in a Preterm Birth Prevention Program

R. Harold Holbrook; Jeanne Falcon; Marie Herron; Michel Lirette; Russell K. Laros; Robert K. Creasy

doi:10.1055/s-2007-999782

American Journal of Perinatology, Inhaltsverzeichnis

Am J Perinatol 1987; 4(3): 240-244
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-999782

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Evaluation of the Weekly Cervical Examination in a Preterm Birth Prevention Program[1]

R. Harold Holbrook Jr. , Jeanne Falcon, Marie Herron, Michel Lirette, Russell K. Laros Jr. , Robert K. Creasy

Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, and the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, California, and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston, Houston, Texas

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The efficacy of regular cervical examinations in detecting preterm labor, as well as possible risks, was studied for 133 preterm labor patients who had received regular cervical examinations as part of a preterm birth prevention program. When compared to all other patients experiencing preterm labor during the study period, the rates of preterm premature rupture of the membranes, chorioamnionitis, and postpartum endomyometritis were not increased. For 95 patients with preterm labor within 7 days of a routine cervical examination, labor onset was not temporally associated with the preceding examination. Preterm labor was diagnosed in 18 asymptomatic patients (18.2%) when the weekly examination revealed cervical change. Routine cervical exams, therefore, did not increase morbidity, and for some patients identified preterm labor before symptoms appeared.

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1 This work is supported by National Institutes of Health Grant NICHD 14562 and March of Dimes Grant 2-188/C-375.