title: Effectiveness of delayed absorbable monofilament suture in emergency cerclage.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the sustained effects of emergency cerclage using slowly absorbable monofilament sutures, changes in cervical length after cerclage were evaluated in six cases.
  
  
  METHODS
  A delayed absorbable monofilament suture (1 PDS-Plus; Ethicon, Inc., Somerville, NJ, USA) has been used for emergency cerclage after 20 weeks of gestation at Juntendo University Hospital since January 2011. A retrospective chart review was conducted including all of the patients undergoing emergency cerclage between January 2011 and August 2013. The patients' characteristics, perinatal outcome, cervical length, and obstetric data were collected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six cases were identified from our medical records. Their characteristics and perinatal outcomes are shown in Table 1. Of the six cases, four had an extremely short cervix, with an average cervical length of 7.85 ± 3.38 mm, and two had prolapsed membranes. Fig. 1 shows the cervical length and the time elapsed after cerclage. There were no cases with shortening of the cervical length below the levels at the cerclage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This absorbable monofilament suture appears useful for emergency cerclage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Juntendo University, Faculty of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan. Electronic address: yorifuji@juntendo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yorifuji
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Juntendo University, Faculty of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan.
authors.forename: Shintaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Makino
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Juntendo University, Faculty of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Juntendo University, Faculty of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshitaka
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Juntendo University, Faculty of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsuo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Itakura
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Juntendo University, Faculty of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takeda
mesh_terms: D020341:Absorbable Implants; D023802:Cerclage, Cervical; D054791:Cervical Length Measurement; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000517:prevention & control; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013537:Sutures; D061665:Time-to-Treatment
keywords: McDonald cerclage; PDS Plus; absorbable monofilament suture; double cerclage; emergency cerclage