INTRODUCTION Massage is a time-honored method by which women have received comfort throughout the millennia, yet it has not been rigorously evaluated in the modern day delivery suite. No study to date that we are aware of has evaluated the effect of massage therapy by a regulated massage therapist on labor pain. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of massage therapy prov...

OBJECTIVE Our purpose was to compare the clinical experience in using Dilapan osmotic dilator and Laminaria japonicum as overnight osmotic cervical dilators in second-trimester dilation and evacuation abortion with respect to measurable outcome variables, including complication rates. STUDY DESIGN A cohort comparison was performed of 1001 patients receiving alternate preoperative treatment wi...

Roughly 11% of induced abortions in the United States are performed after 14 weeks of gestation, most commonly by dilation and evacuation (D&E). For a D&E procedure, the cervix must be dilated sufficiently to allow passage of operative instruments and products of conception without injuring the uterus or cervical canal. Preoperative preparation of the cervix reduces the risk of cervical lacerat...

You are a busy family physician with a practice that includes obstetrics and teaching medical students. Cervical examinations are a routine part of your on-call duties. You have medical trainees with you, and they have often struggled with the cervical examination. One night on call, your trainee admits a patient in active labour and reports the cervical dilation to be 7 cm. However, she is unc...

background applying an appropriate method of analgesia in labor without alteration in its progression is of high importance. previous literature did not provide much information about the effect of various kinds of anesthesia on the duration of active phase of labor. objectives to assess the effect of painless labor methods on the duration of active phase of labor. patients and methods 80 pregn...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate operative time after adjunctive misoprostol or mifepristone compared with overnight osmotic dilators alone for cervical preparation before dilation and evacuation at 16-23 6/7 weeks of gestation. METHODS This double-blind, three-arm, multicenter, randomized trial compared overnight osmotic dilators alone, dilators plus 400 micrograms buccal misoprostol 3 hours preoperati...

1. A partially occluded artery may dilate distal to the site of constriction. 2. The dilation is circumscribed. 3. When the constriction has been either slight in amount or complete, dilation has not been observed. 4. The dilation was greatest when the lumen of the artery (the aorta) was reduced to one-third or perhaps one-fourth of its original size (Figs. 8 and 11). 5. Dilation or aneurysm of...