A randomised trial of two expectant managements of prelabour rupture of the membranes at 34 to 42 weeks.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Oxytocin.

To compare obstetric and perinatal outcome between two different expectant managements in women with prelabour rupture of the membranes (PROM).

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, women only.

One thousand three hundred and eighty-five women with rupture of the membranes at 34 to 42 weeks without contractions.

Women without contractions 2 h after admission were randomised to early induction the following morning after PROM (early induction group) or induction two days later (late induction group).

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized.

Because people in this Oxytocin study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Women with contractions starting within 2 h after admission were included in the calculations as a short latency group.

Digital examinations of the cervix were avoided until onset of active labour.

Labour was induced with oxytocin in both groups if no spontaneous contractions occurred or if chorioamnionitis or fetal distress was detected.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Chorioamnionitis, Premature Rupture of Fetal Membranes, Gestational Age, Heart Rate, Fetal, Labor, Induced, Oxytocin and Parity.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Oxytocin.

Its findings take up roughly 8 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 1996 (British journal of obstetrics and gynaecology), a journal based in England.

More context: the related Oxytocin library page, all human trials.