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A comparison of transcervical foley catheter and intravaginal misoprostol for cervical ripening and labour induction in a tertiary hospital in North-Central Nigeria


A. Olasinde
A.P. Aboyeji
L.O. Omokanye
O.A. Ogunlaja
B.O. Lawal
Y.T. Olasinde
A. Adeyemi

Abstract

Background: Induction of labour is an important procedure in obstetric practice therefore, a safe and suitable method should be  considered for cervical ripening and labour induction. This study compared the efficacy and safety of intravaginal misoprostol and intra- cervical Foley catheter for cervical ripening and labour induction.


Methods: This study was carried out among parturients in a tertiary hospital between December 2017 and October 2018.Seventy-eight  parturients with unfavourable cervix were randomized into two groups, to receive either 4hourly intravaginal misoprostol for a maximum  of six doses or have passage of intracervical Foley balloon catheter over a maximum of 12 hours. Data was analyzed using  SPSS software version 23, p<0.05was considered statistically significant.


Results: The study showed no difference in vaginal delivery rates  (misoprostol, 61.6%; Foley, 53.9%; p= 0.49) between the two methods of cervical ripening. The induction to delivery interval for the vaginal  misopostol group (14.25±5.21hours) was similar to the Foley catheter group (10.39±0.42hours; p=0.10). However, there was  higher Bishop's score after cervical ripening in the vaginal misoprostol group (p=0.001).


Conclusion: The maternal and perinatal  outcomes in this study have shown that no method is superior to another when efficacy and safety of vaginal misoprostol and Foley  catheter are concerned for cervical ripening and IOL. Hence any of these two methods should be considered suitable for IOL with unripe  cervix. 


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eISSN: 2467-8252
print ISSN: 2360-7793