A comparative study between active and expectant management of premature rupture of membranes at term on fetomaternal and perinatal outcome in rural population

Background: Premature rupture of membranes at term (PROM) is defined as a spontaneous rupture of membranes after 37 completed weeks of gestation and before the onset of regular painful uterine contractions. PROM occurs in 5-10% of all pregnancies of which approximately 80% occur at term. The study aimed to compare the maternal and neonatal outcome in patients with term PROM receiving active induction versus expectant management.Methods: The present study was a prospective randomised controlled trial, conducted on 100 term antenatal women with PROM in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, UPUMS, Saifai from January 2016 to June 2017. 50 antenatal women received immediate induction with oral misoprostol while another 50 antenatal women were expectantly managed for 24 hours. The latency period, PROM delivery interval, maternal and neonatal outcome were compared and subjected to statistical analysis.Results: 42% of active management group and 30% of expectant management group had a latency period of 12-20 hours and results were found to be statistically significant (p value = 0.005). There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of caesarean section, maternal and neonatal morbidity in both the groups.Conclusions: Immediate labour induction in patients with term PROM resulted in significant shortening of latent period and PROM to delivery interval without any increase in caesarean section rate as compared to expectant management group