Failed operative vaginal delivery.
OBJECTIVE
To compare maternal and neonatal outcomes in women undergoing second-stage cesarean delivery after a trial of operative vaginal delivery with those in women undergoing second-stage cesarean delivery without such an attempt.


METHODS
This study is a secondary analysis of the women who underwent second-stage cesarean delivery. The maternal outcomes examined included blood transfusion, endometritis, wound complication, anesthesia use, and maternal death. Neonatal outcomes examined included umbilical artery pH less than 7.0, Apgar score of 3 or less at 5 minutes, seizures within 24 hours of birth, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, stillbirth, skull fracture, and neonatal death.


RESULTS
Of 3,189 women who underwent second-stage cesarean delivery, operative vaginal delivery was attempted in 640. Labor characteristics were similar in the two groups, with the exception of the admission-to-delivery time and cesarean indication. Those with an attempted operative vaginal delivery were more likely to undergo cesarean delivery for a nonreassuring fetal heart rate tracing (18.0% compared with 13.9%, P=.01), have a wound complication (2.7% compared with 1.0%, odds ratio [OR] 2.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.43-4.91), and require general anesthesia (8.0% compared with 4.1%, OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.44-2.91). Neonatal outcomes, including umbilical artery pH less than 7.0, Apgar score of 3 or less at 5 minutes, and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, were more common for those with an attempted operative vaginal delivery. This was not significant when cases with a nonreassuring fetal heart rate tracing were removed.


CONCLUSIONS
Cesarean delivery after an attempt at operative vaginal delivery was not associated with adverse neonatal outcomes in the absence of a nonreassuring fetal heart rate tracing.


METHODS
II.
Alexander
James M
JM
From the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas; the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan; the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio; the University of Miami, Miami, Florida; the University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee; the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas; Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; the George Washington University Biostatistics Center, Washington, DC, and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland.
Leveno
Kenneth J
KJ
Hauth
John C
JC
Landon
Mark B
MB
Gilbert
Sharon
S
Spong
Catherine Y
CY
Varner
Michael W
MW
Caritis
Steve N
SN
Meis
Paul
P
Wapner
Ronald J
RJ
Sorokin
Yoram
Y
Miodovnik
Menachem
M
O'Sullivan
Mary J
MJ
Sibai
Baha M
BM
Langer
Oded
O
Gabbe
Steven G
SG
D000328:Adult; D001034:Apgar Score; D001720:Birth Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006340:Heart Rate, Fetal; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D020925:Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain / Q000453:epidemiology; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D017211:Treatment Failure; D014469:Umbilical Arteries