Value of X-ray pelvimetry in primiparas. II: influence on management of labor.

Despite its potential risks x-ray pelvimetry remains a common diagnostic procedure performed during labor. In order to determine whether x-ray pelvimetry measurements influence the outcome of labor (vaginal vs cesarean), 280 consecutive primiparous parturients were studied.Most parturients were black at term with a vertex presentation. Most pelvimetries were ordered for suspected cephalopelvic disproportion. Of the total number of parturients studied, 31.8 percent had cesarean deliveries, 85.4 percent of them because of CPD. The clinical characteristics compared were similar among the groups studied. X-ray pelvimetry values obtained by two techniques were similar to those previously reported. Although correlations between measurements and delivery route were noted, these values, by themselves, did not have a necessary correlation to the route of delivery in the majority of parturients studied.This finding, like others reported, emphasizes the need to abandon x-ray pelvimetry as a requirement for documenting contracted pelves before abdominal deliveries. CPD should be documented by evaluating the pelvis, quality of labor, and maternal-fetal well-being by other appropriate, less risky means readily available.