LAUSR

Objective: To discuss the surgical effect of modified cervical cerclage for the treatment of pregnant women with cervical insufficiency. Methods: The clinical data of 225 pregnant women who underwent modified cervical cerclage in Qilu Hospital (Qingdao) were selected for retrospective analysis from April 2014 to June 2020. Surgical success rate, full-term birth rate, preterm birth rate, prolonged pregnancy weeks and newborn birth weight were compared between singleton and twin pregnancies, preventive cerclage and emergency cerclage, surgery before and after 18 weeks, naturally and in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) conceived pregnant women respectively. Results: Among the 225 pregnant women, the gestational weeks of surgery were 14-24+5 weeks, mean gestational weeks of delivery were 38+2 weeks (35+5-39+3 weeks), the number of prolonged gestation were (20.3±5.2) weeks, and the newborn birth weight was (3 065±735) g; the overall surgical success rate was 92.9% (209/225), and the miscarriage rate was 7.1% (16/225); among the surviving newborns, the full-term birth rate was 73.7% (154/209), and the preterm birth rate was 26.3% (55/209). All cases had no intraoperative complications. Among the 225 pregnant women, 202 (89.8%, 202/225) cases were singleton pregnancies, and 23 (10.2%, 23/225) cases were twin pregnancies; 201 (89.3%, 201/225) cases underwent preventive cervical cerclage, and 24 (10.7%, 24/225) cases underwent emergency cervical cerclage; 190 (84.4%, 190/225) cases underwent the surgery before 18 weeks, and 35 (15.6%, 35/225) cases underwent the surgery after 18 weeks; 49 (21.8%, 49/225) cases were conceived by IVF-ET. There was no statistically significant difference in the overall surgical success rate of single and twin group (P>0.05). The full-term birth rate, newborn birth weight and prolonged pregnancy weeks of single group were higher than those of twin group (P<0.05). There were no statistical differences between preventive and emergency cerclage in overall surgical success rate, full-term birth rate, preterm birth rate, and newborn birth weight (all P>0.05). The pregnancy prolonged weeks of preventive cerclage was higher than that of emergency cerclage (P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the overall surgical success rate, full-term birth rate, preterm birth rate and birth weight of newborns at different surgical timings (all P>0.05). The pregnancy prolonged week for those who underwent surgery before 18 weeks was higher than that of surgery after 18 weeks (P<0.05). The premature birth rate of IVF-ET was higher than that of naturally conceived pregnant women (P<0.05). Conclusion: The modified cervical cerclage could effectively prolong the gestational weeks of delivery, reduce the rate of preterm birth, and the operation is simple and easy to promote. It could be used as a surgical option for patients with cervical insufficiency.