Value of amnioinfusion in reducing meconium aspiration syndrome

Infusing normal saline into the uterine cavity, or amnioinfusion, is used to reduce the risk of meconium aspiration syndrome in babies born to women in whom the pregnancy is complicated by thick, meconium-stained amniotic fluid. In this retrospective review of 436 such pregnancies amnioinfusion was performed in 110. In 18.2% of infants in the amnioinfusion group meconium was found in the trachea compared with 29.1% of infants in the untreated group. In the treated group respiratory distress occurred in 2.7%, and meconium aspiration syndrome in 1.8%, whereas in the untreated group these frequencies were 10.1 and 5.5%, respectively. We conclude that saline amnioinfusion in pregnancies complicated by thick, meconium-stained amniotic fluid reduces the risk of respiratory distress in the newborn.