A comparative study of combination of intracervical foley's catheter and intravaginal misoprostol versus intravaginal misoprostol alone for induction of labour

The goal of induction of labour is to achieve vaginal delivery in a safe timely manner, to prevent unnecessary LSCS and for safe neonatal outcome. The main objective of this study is to compare combination of intracervical Foley's catheter and intravaginal misoprostol with intravaginal misoprostol alone for induction of labour.

A prospective randomized study was conducted on 200 patients with term singleton pregnancy admitted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital Patiala from November 2014 to July 2016, for induction of labour with Bishop score ≤ 4 and were randomly allocated to Group A and Group B. Group A consisted of 100 women in whom intracervical 16F Foley's catheter was inserted along with 25 microgram intravaginal misoprostol. Group B also had 100 participants who received 25 microgram misoprostol intravaginally. Misoprostol was repeated 4 hourly and maximum of 5 doses were given in both the groups. Multiple variables including induction delivery interval (IDI), mode of delivery, maternal and foetal outcome were analyzed.

86% of the patient in group A and 88% of the women in group B delivered vaginally. IDI was shorter in Group A (14.58±6.67 hours) than Group B (19.11±10.20 hours) which was statistically significant.

The combination of intracervical Foley's catheter and intravaginal misoprostol for cervical ripening and induction of labor appears to be a safe and more effective method compared to intravaginal misoprostol alone in parturient at term with unfavorable cervices.