Efficacy of intraumbilical vein oxytocin injection in comparison with intravenous oxytocin injection in the third stage of labour

Abstract EN

Objective : to evaluate and compare the efficacy of intraumbilical vein (IUV) oxytocin injection and intravenous (IV) oxytocin injection in the management of the third stage of labour.

Patients and Methods : In this prospective randomized clinical trial, 160 women undergoing vaginal delivery who did not have risk factors for postpartum haemorrhage were randomly allocated to receive either 10 IU oxytocin diluted to 30 ml with saline by intraumbilical vein injection immediately after cord clamping (study group, n = 80) or 10 IU oxytocin diluted to 10 ml with saline by intravenous injection just after delivery of the anterior shoulder (control group, n = 80).

The primary outcomes were mean blood loss during the third stage of labour and duration of the third stage of labour.

Results : The mean estimated blood loss was significantly lower in the intraumbilical vein oxytocin group compared with the intravenous oxytocin group (258.78  37.42 ml vs 334.63  69.98 ml, respectively ; P < 0.001).

The duration of third stage of labour was significantly shorter in the intraumbilical vein oxytocin group than in the intravenous oxytocin group (5.07  1.52 minutes vs 8.08  2.33 minutes, respectively ; P < 0.001).

The postpartum haemoglobin level was significantly higher in the intraumbilical vein oxytocin group than in the intravenous oxytocin group (10.01  1.42 gm / dl vs 9.41  0.65 gm / dl, respectively ; P < 0.001).

The need for additional uterotonic agents was insignificantly lower in the intraumbilical vein oxytocin group than in the intravenous oxytocin group (6 [7.5 %] women vs 11 [13.75 %] women, respectively ; P = 0.3).

Conclusion : The intraumbilical vein injection of oxytocin significantly reduced postpartum blood loss and the duration of the third stage of labour in comparison to intravenous injection of oxytocin.