[Role of cerclage in the prevention of abortion and premature labor]

In the course of the analysis of the results of 175 cerclage-operations carried out during the last 5 years, the authors intended to answer the question: whether the operation is reasonable on the basis of a prophylactic indication. As indication of this kind has been considered for example the following: when in the case-history of the patient one or more spontaneous abortions have occured after the third month of gravidity--with insufficient symptoms, when the mother's birth was a full-term confinement after cerclage-operation, finally, when the insufficiency of the cervical os had been diagnosed before getting pregnant. At symptoms of incipient abortion the aim of the medical treatment was therapeutic. The prophylactic operation was performed between the 16-18th week of the pregnancy, while the therapeutic one between the 20th and 30th week. In the first group 97,2 per cent was the rate of the viable children, while in the second one: 67,2 per cent. The well-foundedness of the prophylactic indication is proved by the fact that the number of full-term confinements has been quinetupled, compared with the pre-operation state. In our opinion in case of typical anamnesis the cerclage-operation is to be performed earlier than in the practice up till now, before opening the cervical os, and the infection of the amnion.