A Comparative Study of Safety & Efficacy of Foley’s Induction with Prostaglandin E2 Gel Induction

Abstract

Background: To compare maternal and fetal outcome with intracervical foley’s catheter and intracervical PGE2 gel on pre-induction cervical ripening for induction of labor. Methods: A Prospective Longitudinal study was carried out in antenatal cases beyond 37 weeks at tertiary care hospital, maharashtra. Pertinent data was collected and analyzed. Results: 50% patients were induced with PGE2 Gel (Group 1) and 50% patients were induced with Foley’s catheter (Group 2). The mean time interval between time of induction and delivery was 14.63±3.42 hours in Group 1 and 15.73±2.20 hours in Group 2. 52 (69.4%) patients in Group 1 had Full Term Normal Delivery (FTND) while 21 (28%) had Lower Segment Caesarean Section (LSCS). 73 (97.4%) patients in Group 2 had FTND while 1 (1.3%) patient had LSCS. The preinduction and postinduction bishops score between the groups was (3.53±0.84 vs. 3.44±0.74) and (6.91±1.24 vs. 7.33±0.83) respectively. Conclusion: Induction with foley’s catheter has significant improvement in Bishop’s score and shorter induction delivery interval as compared to PGE2 gel. Foleys catheter is advantageous as it lacks specific storage condition. It could be considered a cost effective alternative for pre induction cervical ripening.