• Rationale and Comments

    Although progressive cervical shortening after cerclage placement increases the risk of preterm birth, neither overall cervical length nor the length below the stitch correlates well with outcomes. Most importantly, there are currently no additional treatment options for a short cervix after cerclage (e.g., reinforcement suture does not improve outcomes). Although there may be theoretical psychological benefits to the patient and provider to visualize the stitch, there are insufficient data to suggest a clinical benefit of routine post-cerclage serial cervical length measurement.

    Sponsoring Organizations

    • Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine

    Sources

    • Expert consensus

    Disciplines

    • Obstetrical

    References

    • Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM). McIntosh J, Feltovich H, Berghella V, Manuck T. The role of routine cervical length screening in selected high- and low-risk women for preterm birth prevention. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Sep;215(3):B2-7.
    • Baxter JK, Airoldi J, Berghella V. Short cervical length after history indicated cerclage: Is a reinforcing cerclage beneficial? Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2005;193:1204-7.