Premature rupture of membranes at term: a meta-analysis of three management schemes

To compare rates of cesarean birth, endometritis, chorioamnionitis, and serious neonatal infections among pregnancies complicated by premature rupture of membranes (PROM) at term and managed by immediate oxytocin induction, by conservative management (or delayed oxytocin induction), or by vaginal (or endocervical) prostaglandin E2, gel, suppositories, or tablets.

The English-language literature in MLD, LINE and other databases was searched through April 1996 using the terms "fetal membranes," "premature rupture," and "term."

We included randomized trials comparing two or more management schemes for PROM at term.

Twenty-three studies with a total of 7493 subjects met the inclusion criteria and were included for analysis. Data regarding chorioamnionitis, endometritis, neonatal infections, and cesarean delivery were extracted. Meta-analyses were performed for the three interventions for these outcomes of interest using the Der-Simonian and Laird and Mantel-Haenszel techniques to estimate the pooled odds ratios (ORs). No statistically significant differences in cesarean deliveries or neonatal infections were noted among management schemes. Vaginal prostaglandins resulted in more chorioamnionitis than immediate oxytocin (OR 1.55, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09, 2.21), but less chorioamnionitis than conservative management (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.51, 0.91). Immediate oxytocin induction resulted in fewer cases of chorioamnionitis (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.52, 0.85) and endometritis (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.51, 0.99) than conservative management, although these results achieved significance only with the Mantel-Haenszel technique.

Conservative management may result in more maternal infections than immediate induction with oxytocin or prostaglandins.