Cervical cerclage complications: eight years of experience

Objective: The aim of this study is to analyze cervical cerclage cases in our clinic retrospectively and to evaluate the complications asso- ciated with the procedure. Methods: The patients who undergone cervical cerclage opera- tion between April 2004 and December 2012 at Suleymaniye Training and Research Hospital were included in the study. The data of patients, complications of the procedure, week of gestation at delivery, delivery type and postnatal complications were ana- lyzed retrospectively. Results: Cervical cerclage suture was applied to 100 patients. While the rate of emergency cases was 8.0% (n=8), the rate of elective cases was 68% (n=68) and the rate of prophylactic cases was 24% (n=24). Mean week of gestation was 33.55±6.06. While 31% (n=31) of the deliveries were preterm, 69% (n=69) of them were term. Mean delivery week was 27.8±7.9 in emergency group, 33.9±5.8 in elective group and 34.2±5.1 in prophylactic group. The membranes were ruptured (PPROM) after cerclage in 10 (10%) patients. While preg- nancy was lost in nine patients at the early period after the rupture of membrane, pregnancy was lost in one patient after three weeks. One of these patients developed fever and chorioamnionitis. When the complications were analyzed, it was seen that the rate of compli- cations in emergency group was statistically and significantly higher than two other groups. (p=0.005 and p<0.1). Conclusion: The rates of preterm labor were relatively higher in our cases, and other complications were seen rarely (chorioamnioni- tis, fever, cervical laceration). Compared to elective and prophylac- tic cerclage groups, the rate of preterm labor and complications were significantly higher in the emergency cerclage group.