Abstract
A case of severe scalp laceration due to a scalp electrode in our hospital prompted us to review the available literature on this matter. Roughly three categories of adverse effects due to scalp electrodes can be distinguished: common minor skin lesions (41% of cases of electrode application), scalp abscesses (0.1–4.5%) and rarer, sometimes major, complications only described in case reports. We present a complete overview of published case reports. A recently published Cochrane review on the effectiveness of continuous fetal heart rate monitoring sheds doubt on the benefits of continuous monitoring over intermittent auscultation. Reported complications, considering this controversy regarding the benefits, should prompt clinicians to reconsider at what threshold the benefits of scalp electrode placement outweigh its risks.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.