Effectiveness and safety of late midtrimester cervical cerclage

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of late cervical cerclage performed beyond 17 weeks of gestation. The outcomes of interest were effectiveness of late cerclage in prolongation of pregnancy and evaluation of pregnancy outcome including maternal and fetal complications.

Study design: A total of 30 patients underwent late cervical cerclage during the study period. Of them, two were twin pregnancies. A late cerclage was performed after the diagnosis of cervical shortening or dilatation in 20 patients. We performed a retrospective case series review. One case was lost to follow up (delivery in another medical center). Medical information was retrieved from all cases of patients who underwent a late cervical cerclage between the years 2010 and 2016 at the Soroka University Medical Center, a tertiary medical center. Continuous variables were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Categorical variables were expressed as proportions.

Results: The average gestational age at birth was 35 ± 5.1 weeks of gestation. The mean interval between cerclage and delivery in the study population was 17 ± 5.62 weeks. Nine cases (32.1%) resulted in preterm deliveries, three of them below 34 weeks of gestation (one twin pregnancy and two pregnancies diagnosed with cervical dilation prior to cerclage). Among all the preterm deliveries, there were four cases of preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (13.3%). Of the 28 deliveries, 24 women (85.7%) had a vaginal delivery, while four women (14.3%) underwent a cesarean section. No cases of cervical tear were described. The cerclage was sent to bacteriology after removal, showing positive cultures for Candida species in nine cases (31%).

Conclusions: In our study population, late cervical cerclage was found to be a safe procedure resulting in almost 90% of successful vaginal deliveries without maternal or fetal complications. This procedure might be effective in the prolongation of pregnancy in women with cervical dynamics in the late second trimester.

Keywords:

• Cervical insufficiency
• late abortion
• preterm delivery
• preterm premature rupture of membranes

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.