Umbilical vein administration of oxytocin for the management of retained placenta: is it effective?

In a multicenter randomized controlled trial involving 220 women with retained placenta no beneficial effects could be established of intraumbilical vein administration of 10 IU of oxytocin in 20 ml of saline solution. A reduction was not gained in the rate of manual removal of the placenta and there was no decrease in the amount of blood loss. Oxytocin only induced a minor shortening of the median time interval from administration to the spontaneous expulsion of the placenta as compared with a placebo injection. Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein levels before and after intraumbilical vein injection did not show evidence of fetomaternal transfusion.