Cervidil and uterine rupture

[lady_jezebel]

On a pregnancy board I go to now and then, a woman described being induced with Cervidil. Within 3 hrs of its application, she started painfully cramping & then hemorrhaged. She was rushed to the OR for an immediate C-section. She needed a massive blood transfusion afterwards, and her recovery took a few days. Obviously, she and/or her baby could have died. The father of the baby was not permitted in the OR. She is only 21, and this is her FIRST pregnancy (ie. not a VBAC).

Question: the doc told her that the cramps/bleeding had nothing to do with the Cervidil. I think the doc was trying to cover his own a**. What is your opinion? Have you ever seen anything like this happen?

[Mermaid4]

Hi there and best of luck in your new endeavor! I love cytotec and have no problems of the nature you describe with either cytotec or cervidil...Cytotec was discovered serendipitiously to be a good med for inducing uterine contractions as Magnesium sulfate and terbutaline was serendipitiously discovered for their uses as well..Just because one med hasn't climbed to the top of the list doesn't mean it isn't either effective or warranted...Certainly things are possible that do not usually happen, but these things can happen just as quickly independently of either cytotec or cervidil, such as a uterine rupture or abruption for instance. One thing I have learned in OB over the years is NEVER say never....:)

[Mermaid4]

I just read the entirety of your post. Yes, I have experience with cervadil and I have to say I much prefer cytotec, although my current place of employment uses cytotec primarily to rapidly halt post partum hemmorrhages. The only cases of uterine rupture I have seen in 15 years of OB happened spontaneously or when a patient was on pitocin. They are rare...The only problems I have seen with cervadil is that it sometimes is slow to work...Other than that, I haven't noticed any big problems...Hope I didn't just jinx myself!

[BETSRN]

We all prefer cervidil over Miso: always have. Of course cervidil causes cramping. The rest of the story sounds like an unfortunate event. I have to say that we ahve never had a ppoor outcome with Cervidil. It sometimes causes uterine hyperstim but that's when you pull it immediately.