Clinical approach to vulvovaginal cysts and abscesses, a review.

Vulvovaginal cysts are a common problem for women, causing significant pain, discomfort and impact on quality of life. For clinicians, classifying and differentiating these cysts from each other and selecting appropriate management can be challenging, yet there is no integrated classification system and little literature that broadly summarises a clinical approach. We aimed to create a useful tool for clinicians by providing a detailed summary of various vulvovaginal cysts and abscesses with a clear novel classification system and hierarchy for diagnosis and management, to aid clinicians in this process.

Analgesia for forceps delivery.

BACKGROUND: A forceps delivery may be indicated when a fetus fails to progress to delivery, or when delivery needs to be expedited in the second stage of labour. Effective analgesia is required to ensure that the woman is comfortable throughout the delivery, to allow the obstetrician to safely perform the procedure. It is currently unclear what the most effective and safe agent or method is to provide pain relief during forceps delivery. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness and safety of different analgesic agents and methods available for forceps delivery for women and their babies. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (31 July 2013), reviewed published guidelines and searched the reference lists of review articles. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials comparing an analgesic agent or method used for forceps delivery with placebo/no treatment or an alternative agent or method. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently assessed study eligibility, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. MAIN RESULTS: We included four trials involving 388 women that were judged to be at an unclear to high risk of bias overall. A variety of different agents for providing analgesia were assessed in the trials, and a number of different methods to measure pain relief were used, and thus results could not be combined in meta-analysis. Three trials compared diazepam with an alternative agent (ketamine; vinydan-ether; "other" anaesthesic agent) for the provision of general anaesthesia, and one trial compared spinal analgesia to pudendal nerve block (in both groups lignocaine was administered).With regard to the primary outcomes, women receiving diazepam for forceps delivery in one small trial were more likely to judge their pain relief as effective compared with women receiving vinydan-ether (risk ratio (RR) 1.13; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02 to 1.25; 101 women). In a further small trial, no significant difference was seen in the number of women judging their pain relief as effective when diazepam was compared with ketamine (RR 1.42; 95% CI 0.98 to 2.07; 26 women). In the trial that compared spinal analgesia to pudendal nerve block, women receiving spinal analgesia were significantly more likely to regard their analgesia as adequate (RR 3.36; 95% CI 2.46 to 4.60; 183 women) and were less likely to report severe pain during forceps delivery (RR 0.02; 95% CI 0.00 to 0.27; 183 women). No trials reported on the review's other two primary outcomes of serious maternal adverse effects or complications, and neonatal mortality or serious morbidity.In terms of secondary outcomes, women receiving diazepam compared with vinydan-ether, were significantly less likely to experience vomiting (RR 0.04; 95% CI 0.00 to 0.62; 101 women). No significant differences were seen for the few neonatal outcomes that were reported across any of the comparisons (including Agpar score of less than seven at five minutes and acidosis as defined by cord blood arterial pH less than 7.2). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is insufficient evidence to support any particular analgesic agent or method as most effective in providing pain relief for forceps delivery. Neonatal outcomes have largely not been evaluated.

Serial plotting on customised fundal height charts results in doubling of the antenatal detection of small for gestational age fetuses in nulliparous women.

BACKGROUND: The antenatal detection of fetal growth restriction is a focus point of antenatal care. If detected fetal demise may be prevented and perinatal complications could be managed more appropriately. AIMS: To investigate whether introducing serial plotting on customised fundal height charts can increase the detection rate of small for gestational age (SGA) fetuses in low risk nulliparous women attending antenatal clinics in a public teaching hospital in Adelaide, South Australia. METHODS: An observational study was employed to compare SGA detection rates, utilising data from an historical Control group compared to data collected after the study intervention. In the Control group the fundal height (FH) was measured for every antenatal visit and documented in the notes, but not plotted on a chart. The study intervention used serial FH plotting on customised charts, with a dedicated clinical practice guideline and regular audits to increase clinician awareness of the intervention. RESULTS: The antenatal detection rate of SGA was 31/125 (24.8%) in the Control group and 44/87 (50.6%) in the Intervention group (P < 0.001; OR 3.10; 95% CI 1.73-5.57). CONCLUSIONS: Serial plotting of the FH on customised charts supported by a clinical practice guideline resulted in a doubling of the antenatal detection of SGA in nulliparous pregnant women at low risk for SGA.

Adverse perinatal outcome and maternal risk factors in population versus customized defined SGA babies.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare population and customized-based birth weight centiles in their association with perinatal outcome and maternal risk factors, in nulliparous Caucasian women in a socio-economic disadvantaged region. METHODS: We analyzed perinatal outcomes in births of 302 Caucasian women of which 155 were small for gestational age (SGA) and 147 were appropriate for gestational age (AGA). Out of the overall study group, two cohort studies were designed. One was classified by population centiles as either SGA (n= 133) or AGA (n = 169) and the other was classified by customized centiles as either SGA (n = 131) or AGA (n = 172). Maternal risk factors and operative delivery rates for fetal distress, Apgar scores, need for resuscitation and neonatal nursery care given, were determined for both customized and population-based SGA babies. RESULTS: The customized SGA only group showed more mental health problems and special nursery in comparison with the AGA group. The population SGA only group had more smoking and mental health problems than the AGA group, but no differences on neonatal outcome measures. CONCLUSION: Use of customized centiles does identify an additional group neonates with a significantly higher need for special nursery admission in a homogeneous ethnic Caucasian group.