288
Views
6
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Review Article

Double versus single cervical cerclage for the prevention of preterm births

, , , , &
Pages 379-385 | Received 16 Feb 2014, Accepted 02 May 2014, Published online: 29 May 2014
 

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness double cervical cerclage in reducing antenatal complications and improve perinatal outcomes.

Methods: We searched Medline, Scopus, Clinicaltrials.org, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Google Scholar search engines.

Results: Six studies were included that involved 880 women. Double cerclage was significantly superior to single cerclage in reducing preterm births <34 weeks (734 cases, OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.40, 0.86) and preterm births <28 weeks (645 cases, OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.26–0.73). It also significantly increased the gestational age (380 cases, MD 2.63, 95% CI 0.87, 4.39). However, as a technique, it failed to improve the rates of preterm births <37 weeks (740 cases, OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.72, 1.34) the incidence of chorioamnionitis (740 cases, OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.51, 1.36) and the occurrence of preterm premature rupture of the membranes (796 cases, OR 1.32, 95% CI 0.95, 1.82).

Conclusions: It seems that double cerclage effectively increases the gestational age at delivery and decreases the rates of extremely premature births. However, as a procedure, it does not reduce the incidence of antenatal morbidity or the neonatal death rates. Further research is needed in the field as our meta-analysis is limited by the small number of enrolled studies.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest. None to disclose for all authors.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.