Análisis del dolor en la versión cefálica externa

Objective

To analyze the maternal perception of pain during external cephalic version.

Material and methods

A prospective study was carried out on 71 patients at the Hospital de Cruces between April 2005 and April 2006, based on personal surveys conducted after the version. These surveys included a «numeric pain intensity rating scale» as well as a series of questions regarding the procedure. Results were analyzed in terms of success or failure of the procedure.

Results

The overall success rate was 50.7%. The procedure was well tolerated by all pregnant women, with no complications being observed. The overall median pain stood at 7; 5 in successful versions, as opposed to 8 in unsuccessful versions (P<.01). A total of 83.1% of patients stated that they would be willing to undergo the procedure again in the future, more than 50% of them basing their decision on the benefits of cephalic delivery.

Conclusions

The fact that external cephalic version is a well tolerated procedure is probably due to its brevity, although it must be noted that it is not a pain-free maneuver.