Extraovular and intraovular uterine contraction monitoring. A comparison.

We tested a new method of monitoring intrauterine contraction pressure. The pressure transducer is simply inserted between the fetal membranes and uterus after checking placental placement with ultrasonography. To evaluate this method, a prospective, randomized study was done to compare intraovular versus extraovular intrauterine contraction monitoring in patients undergoing serial labor induction with oxytocin. Study parameters were length of labor, cesarean section rate, Apgar scores and febrile morbidity rate. Two groups of 32 patients each underwent oxytocin induction for postdatism, diabetes or hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Our results show that extraovular intrauterine contraction monitoring resulted in a better outcome with respect to all the parameters evaluated. Specifically, it had a shorter induction interval, lower cesarean section rate, lower rate of maternal febrile morbidity and comparable neonatal complications. The technique was safe and easy to learn and apply.