Double Defense: How Cerclage and Progesterone Team Up to Prevent Preterm Birth

Background: Preterm birth due to cervical insufficiency has a huge physical and emotional toll on pregnant women. Cervical cerclage and progesterone combination in appropriately selected patient can prolong pregnancy till term.Objective: To determine the effectiveness of combined transvaginal cervical cerclage and oral progesterone in preventing preterm birth.Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 102 pregnant women who underwent history and ultrasound indicated transvaginal cerclage and oral progesterone(dydrgesterone) 100mg twice daily till 34 weeks of pregnancy, were followed up till delivery to ascertain the success rate of cervical cerclage in preventing preterm birth .Results: In this study success rate in terms of full-term vaginal delivery > 37 weeks was seen in 34(94.4%) patients in the age range 18-25 years,57(98.3%) in the age range of 26-33 years and 8(100%) in age range of 34-41years. Mean maternal BMI and parity were 23.4±2.3 and 2.3±1.6 respectively.Conclusion: Preterm births in pregnant women with suspected cervical insufficiency, can be effectively prevented by transvaginal cervical cerclage and oral progesterone combination.Keywords: Cervical cerclage, Cervical insufficiency, McDonald's cerclage Preterm birth, Progesterone.