Cervical cerclage and type of suture material: a survey of UK consultants’ practice

Abstract

Objective: The main aim of the survey was to explore current practices with regards to cervical cerclage procedures amongst UK consultants with particular emphasis on the type of suture material used.Methods: An electronic survey of UK consultant members and fellows of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and who previously agreed to be contacted for survey purposes.Results: There were 261 respondents to the survey and 88% routinely performed cerclage. The majority performed the procedure between 12 and 16 weeks’ gestation (88.7%; n = 180/203), following the McDonald technique (83.4%; n = 166/199) and using a braided suture material (86.6%; n = 175/202). Although only 27 of the 202 responders (13.4%) used a monofilament suture for cerclage (75%; n = 149/201) of clinicians stated that they were not sure what is the best suture material to be used.Conclusion: There is considerable variation in practice amongst Consultant obstetricians with regards to cervical cerclage. Although most respondents use the traditional braided suture material, a significant proportion of them were not sure what is the best suture material to use. The “gestation at delivery” rate was judged to be the most important outcome for a future study.