INDUCTION OF LABOR - DOES INTERNAL TOCOGRAPHY RESULT IN BETTER OBSTETRIC OUTCOME THAN EXTERNAL TOCOGRAPHY

A prospective randomized study was undertaken to evaluate the benefit of intrauterine catheters in induced labour. Two hundred and thirty ni ne women who had induced labor were studied. The patients in one group had intrauterine catheters inserted and oxytocin was titrated to achi eve the 75th percentile of uterine activity observed in spontaneous no rmal labour according to parity. Contractions were assessed by externa l tocography in the other group and oxytocin was titrated to achieve 6 to 7 contractions per 15 minutes each lasting >40 seconds. Mean maxim um dose of oxytocin, mode of delivery, Apgar score <7 at 5 minutes, co rd arterial blood pH <7.15 and admission to neonatal intensive care un it did not differ significantly in the 2 groups. In conclusion, women who had intrauterine catheters did not have a shorter duration of labo ur, lower dose of oxytocin, fewer operative deliveries or fewer babies in poor condition at birth compared with those who had external tocog raphy in induced labour.