Atraumatic forceps-guided insertion of the cervical pessary: a new technique to prevent preterm birth in women with asymptomatic cervical shortening
Journal of Perinatal Medicine, cilt.53, sa.3, ss.358-366, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 53 Sayı: 3
- Basım Tarihi: 2025
- Doi Numarası: 10.1515/jpm-2024-0444
- Dergi Adı: Journal of Perinatal Medicine
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, BIOSIS, CINAHL, EMBASE
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.358-366
- Anahtar Kelimeler: cervical incompetence, cervical insufficiency, cervical length, premature birth, preterm delivery
- Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Objectives: As previous studies on the use of a cervical pessary to prevent preterm birth (PTB) have produced conflicting results, we aimed to investigate the feasibility, acceptability and safety of a new technique for inserting a cervical pessary and compare it with the traditional technique in patients at high risk of PTB. Methods: Women at high risk of PTB treated with a cervical pessary between January 2018 and January 2021 were retrospectively evaluated. After applying exclusion criteria, a total of 68 eligible patients were identified and retrospectively analyzed. The primary outcome was spontaneous PTB before 34 weeks' gestation (WG). Results: Of 68 participants, 39 were treated with the traditional method (group 1) and 29 with the new insertion technique (group 2). The rate of spontaneous PTB before 34 WG was significantly lower in group 2 (p=0.020). Birthweight, APGAR scores and satisfaction with the method were significantly higher, while PTB before 37 WG was significantly lower in group 2 (p=0.043, 0.010, 0.009, 0.042 and 0.014, respectively). There were no significant differences in the rates of perinatal death (12.8 vs. 3.4% in groups 1 and 2, respectively; p=0.229). The concomitant use of vaginal progesterone was required more frequently in group 1. According to the binary regression analysis, the new insertion technique resulted in a 5.42 and 3.97-fold protection against PTB before 34 and 37 WG. Conclusions: Our preliminary results show that our new technique of pessary insertion is more effective than the traditional method in preventing PTB due to cervical shortening.