Cervical pessary doesn't reduce rate of preterm birth or neonatal complications in twin gestatations

Philadelphia, PA, Aug 27, 2015 - Having twins accounts for only 1.5% of all births but 25% of preterm births, the leading cause of infant mortality worldwide. Successful strategies for reducing singleton preterm births include prophylactic use of progesterone and cervical cerclage in patients with a prior history of preterm birth. To investigate whether the use of a cervical pessary might reduce premature births of twins, an international team of researchers conducted a large, multicenter, international randomized clinical trial (RCT) of approximately 1200 twin pregnancies. They report in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology that placement of a cervical pessary did not reduce spontaneous preterm births or reduce neonatal complications.

The rates of preterm birth (defined as END