Impact of cord entanglement on perinatal outcome.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of umbilical cord entanglement around various fetal organs on perinatal outcomes.

STUDY

DESIGN

A retrospective population-based study of all deliveries between 1988 and 2016 at a tertiary medical center. Immediate perinatal outcomes of newborns with and without cord entanglement were compared.

RESULTS

The prevalence of any cord entanglement in our population was 16.62 % (45,312 cases out of 272,713 deliveries during the study period). Cord entanglement was found to be significantly associated with antepartum fetal death (OR = 2.13, 95 % CI 1.77-2.57, p < 0.001) and one-minute Apgar score less than 7 (OR = 1.21, 95 % CI 1.16-1.27, p < 0.001). There was no association between cord entanglement and small for gestational age (SGA) babies.

CONCLUSION

Cord entanglement is associated with antepartum fetal death, but not with SGA.