Premium
Cervical pessaries for prevention of spontaneous preterm birth: past, present and future
Author(s) -
Arabin B.,
Alfirevic Z.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
ultrasound in obstetrics and gynecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.202
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1469-0705
pISSN - 0960-7692
DOI - 10.1002/uog.12540
Subject(s) - medicine , pessary , obstetrics and gynaecology , obstetrics , cervical dilatation , clinical practice , transvaginal ultrasound , cervical insufficiency , cervical cerclage , gynecology , pregnancy , cervix , gestational age , ultrasound , family medicine , cancer , genetics , radiology , biology
This Review describes the rationale for the use of cervical pessaries to prevent spontaneous preterm birth and their gradual introduction into clinical practice, discusses technical aspects of the more commonly used designs and provides guidance for their use and future evaluation. Possible advantages of cervical pessaries include the easy, ‘one‐off’ application, good side‐effect profile, good patient tolerance and relatively low cost compared with current alternatives. Use of transvaginal sonography to assess cervical length in the second trimester allows much better selection of patients who may benefit from the use of a cervical pessary, but future clinical trials are needed to establish clearly the role of pessaries as a preterm birth prevention strategy worldwide. © 2013 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.