Randomised trial comparing a policy of early with selective amniotomy in uncomplicated labour at term.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Oxytocin, published as a randomized controlled trial.

To compare two management policies: rupture of the fetal membranes when women are in normal labour or leave them intact as long as feasible.

Who Took Part

The study group was 1540 women.

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

1540 women in uncomplicated term labour.

Data on labour duration, blood loss, oxytocin use and fetal condition were collected from 1132 women.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized study.

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.

The labour ward of a city university hospital.

Some data from nulliparous women has been presented earlier by the UK Amniotomy Group.

Amniotomy at the next vaginal examination or amniotomy only if indicated.

The median cervical dilatation at membrane rupture was 2 cm greater in the first group.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Amnion, Cervix Uteri, Decision Making, Extraembryonic Membranes, Infections, Labor, Induced and Obstetric Labor Complications.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Oxytocin in 1540 women.

With several hundred people or more, it is a fairly large study for this kind of research.

Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 1997 (British journal of obstetrics and gynaecology), a journal based in England.

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