Pregnancy outcome after successful external cephalic version

OBJECTIVE: Recent studies have suggested that the rate of cesarean delivery in patients who have undergone a successful external cephalic version is h igher than expected. This study compares the incidence of cesarean delivery in patients who underwent successful external cephalic Version and patient s with primary cephalic presentations. STUDY DESIGN: We identified and reviewed the charts of 92 patients who unde rwent a successful external cephalic version. We identified a control popul ation of 184 patients from the delivery room logs. We collected outcome dat a and information on additional risk factors that may affect cesarean deliv ery rates. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between study and control po pulations. There was no significant difference in the cesarean delivery rat e between study patients (22.8%) and control patients (23.4%). CONCLUSIONS: We could not demonstrate a significant Increase in the cesarea n delivery rate for women who underwent successful external cephalic versio n in comparison with patients in labor with primary cephalic presentations.