Prophylactic amnioinfusion in pregnancies complicated by oligohydramnios: a prospective study.

Prophylactic amnioinfusion was assessed in term and post-dates pregnancies with decreased amniotic fluid volume. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups: amnioinfusion with warmed saline solution, room-temperature saline, or control. Patients receiving prophylactic amnioinfusion had a significant decrease in both the frequency and severity of variable decelerations in the first stage of labor (P = .006) and in the average total number of variable decelerations in the first and second stages of labor (P = .01) compared with controls. There was no observed effect on newborn serum electrolyte levels with amnioinfusion, nor was there any apparent benefit of infusion of warmed saline compared with room-temperature saline. In contrast to premature gestations with oligohydramnios, prophylactic amnioinfusion was not associated with a significant improvement in mean umbilical arterial and venous pH or a significant decrease in cesarean delivery for fetal distress (P = .09). This is perhaps because the term fetus has an enhanced ability to tolerate recurrent episodes of heart rate decelerations without demonstrating the rapid metabolic changes seen in the premature fetus.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes