Elective primary cesarean delivery

Usefulness of atosiban for tocolysis during external cephalic version: Systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Breech/transverse presentation is responsible for about 30-50 % of cesarean sections in the world. Cesarean section carries a five-fold greater morbidity than vaginal delivery, deeply impacting on women's health. External Cephalic Version (ECV) is an external manipulation used to convert a non-cephalic to a cephalic presentation. The use of tocolysis might facilitate this procedure; however, it is still controversial which drug should be considered as first choice.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effectiveness of tocolysis with atosiban, a competitive oxytocin receptor antagonist, in order to increase the rate of successful ECV.

STUDY DESIGN

Nine databases (including MEDLINE, CINAHL, LILACS, EMBASE, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.gov, Scielo, PROSPERO, Cochrane at CENTRAL) were searched from the inception to August 2020 using a combination of MeSH terms and keywords regarding "atosiban" and "external cephalic version". We included trials of women with a singleton pregnancy who reached at least 36 weeks of gestation and were scheduled to ECV and tocolysis with atosiban (intervention group) compared to beta-agonists or other drugs (control group). The primary outcome was the incidence of successful ECV. Summary measures were reported as relative risk (RR) with 95 % confidence interval (CI).

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Four studies (1534 women) were eligible for analysis. ECV success rate was significantly lower in women randomized to atosiban (36.7 % vs 45.3 %; RR 0.78 [95 % CI 0.6 to 0.98]). Cesarean section and vaginal delivery rates did not differ between intervention and control group ((59.8 % vs 52.6 %; RR 1.17 [0.98-1.38] and (38.6 % vs 45.0 %; RR 0.83 [95 % CI 0.69-1.01] respectively). Cephalic (36.9 % vs 44.6 %; RR 0.81 [95 % CI 0.65 to 1.01], or breech/transverse presentation at labor (63.4 % vs 55.1 %; RR 1.18 [95 % CI 0.99-1.40]), APGAR score less than 7 at 5 min (1.6 % vs 2.0 %; RR 1.14 [95 % CI 0.27-4.73], NICU admissions (44.2 % vs 48.1 %; RR 0.92 [95 % CI 0.58-1.46] and Umbilical cord pH were similar in both groups. Drug-related side effects were lower in women randomized to atosiban, compared with control group (16.0 % vs 42.9 %; RR 0.38 [95 % CI 0.31 to 0.47].

CONCLUSION

The use of atosiban for tocolysis does not improve the rate of successful ECVs when compared to beta-agonists. However, atosiban was associated with a significantly lower incidence of side effects and comparable cesarean section rates.

Cephalometric comparison of cesarean and normal births

Objective:

The aim of this study was to compare cephalometric variables of subjects with normal and cesarean births.

Materials and Methods:

Ninety age- and gender-matched patients, who were treated in Gaziantep University, Faculty of Dentistry Orthodontics Department were equally divided into normal and cesarean groups according to the birth methods reported by their mothers. To eliminate the negative effects of being different in terms of age and gender among parameters, control, and patient groups were matched in the present study. Pretreatment cephalometrics radiographs were used. Six measurements representing sagittal and vertical relationships were evaluated from pretreatment cephalograms using Dolphin Imaging Orthodontics Software was used in this issue by an orthodontist. Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, Student's t-test, and Mann–Whitney U-test were used for statistical comparisons.

Results:

A point-nasion-B point angle (ANB) and Wits values were higher in the normal group, while sella-nasion-A point angle, sella-nasion-B point angle, Frankfort horizontal-mandibular plane angle, and gonion-gnathion-SN plane angle values were higher in the cesarean group. However, the groups showed no significant differences (P > 0.05). ANB angle and Wits values showed high correlation.

Conclusions:

Within the study limitations, the results suggest that the birth method may not have a considerable effect on the development of the craniofacial skeletal system.

Cesarean delivery and risk of inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

It has been considered that cesarean delivery is a risk factor for the two subtypes of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs): Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). The aim of this meta-analysis was to examine the relationship between cesarean delivery and the development of IBD.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We searched the articles retrieved by PubMed, MEDLINE and EMBASE databases to identify observational studies regarding the relationship between cesarean section and the development of CD and/or UC. Pooled odds ratios were calculated for each relationship.

RESULTS

Nine studies evaluated the potential association between cesarean delivery and the development of IBD and met all of our inclusion criteria. The pooled data from six included studies indicated cesarean delivery was a risk factor for CD (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.12-1.70; p = 0.003). Likewise, we observed a positive association between cesarean delivery and pediatric CD (95% CI: 1.06-1.35; p = 0.005). However, results from the four included studies for UC indicated the rate of cesarean section in UC patients was not higher than that of control subjects (95% CI: 0.87-1.32; p = 0.54). Overall, we did not observe a positive relationship between cesarean delivery and IBD (95% CI: 0.99-1.30; p = 0.08).

CONCLUSION

Results of this meta-analysis support the hypothesis that cesarean delivery was associated with the risk of CD but not of UC. The total rate of cesarean delivery of IBD patients was similar with that of control subjects.