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Early amniotomy is one of the main interventions to enhance the labor progress and prevent dystocia in pregnant women. However, the efficacy of amniotomy has not been approved via labor-related indices and outcomes and has remained a subject for debate and future research. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of early amniotomy on labor indices and outcomes in nulliparous women. This randomized clinical trial was performed on 151 singleton pregnant women who were referred to Besat Hospital in Sanandaj, Iran, from March 2016 to March 2018. Participants were randomly divided into an early amniotomy (EA) group and a control group. Duration of the first and second phases of labor, corioamionit, dystocia rate, Apgar score at the first and fifth minutes, prolonged labor and post-partum haemorrhage were evaluated and compared between the two groups. Data were recorded in a checklist and analysed using SPSS Version 23. The p value <0.05 was considered significant. Results showed that labor indices such as duration of the first and second phases, Apgar score one and five minutes after delivery and frequency of prolonged labor, foetal distress and postpartum haemorrhage were significantly improved in patients of the early amniotomy group, compared with the control group (p≤0.05). Early amniotomy significantly decreased the total labor duration without significant increase in the rate of maternal and neonatal complications.

SummaryAn experimental study was conducted to enhance regeneration in the spinal cord. Twenty Swiss albino rats were used, of which 8 were controls, and hemicordotomy was performed at mid-thoracic level. In 12 rats a segment of peripheral nerve (sciatic) autograft was taken, minced and implanted in the hemicordotomy site.All the rats were sacrificed at 4-12 weeks. Fixation was carried out by intracar diac perfusion of fixative. Light microscopy was used to study the hemicordotomy site. Two observations were made; first, regeneration of the cord was greatly en hanced, and second, the spinal cord caudal to the hemicordotomy did not disintegrate in the grafted cords. Key words: Experimental spinal cord implants; Spinal cord injury.Injury to the central nervous system which results in cell and tissue damage is always followed by a degree of degeneration. Regeneration in the central nervous system is known to be significantly limited (Windle, 1981). However researchers have studied the regeneration process in laboratory animals (Cajal, 1928;Collins 1983; Gerard and Kapponyi, 1926;Kao, 1970;Verra, 1981).Gerard and Kapponyi in 1926 studied regeneration of spinal cord in rat fetuses. Subsequently, research to enhance regeneration has increased (French, 1962;Hughes, 1984;Meinecke, 1985; Wilson, 1984).It was Cajal, in 1914 andin 1928, who first suggested that implantation of pieces of peripheral nerve into wounds in the central nervous system, might result in some regeneration activity. Sugar and Gerard in 1940 implanted pieces of peripheral nerves into wounds in the central nervous system of immature animals, and found a definite tendency to regeneration.More recently this regeneration phenomenon has been further studied by many workers (Aihara, 1970;Kao, 1974;Kao et al., 1970 Kao et al., , 1977a Kao et al., , 1977b. They grafted nervous tissues from the cerebellum, nodose ganglion and sciatic nerve into the transected spinal cord.Their results indicated that grafted peripheral nerve tissue enhanced the regeneration ability in the spinal cord, more than other types of tissue. SPINAL CORD REGENERATION: NEW EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH 311In this study, a sciatic nerve autograft was used in rats, but a different technique from Kao's was applied. In his work, Kao used the sciatic nerve segment (in experiments on dogs) with strict orientation of proximal/distal ends of the transplanted sciatic nerve segments (Kao, 1974).The objective in this study was to disregard orientation of the grafted nerve segment, because graft orientation is technically difficult during surgery and to maintain after surgery in spite of the use of plasma gel. The method was to mince the nerve segment and to use the material as a graft. Hence the technique was more simple and reproducible. The results obtained were comparable to those obtained by Kao. Materials and methodsTwenty adult Swiss albino rats were used in this study. The first group (controls) included 8 rats in which hemicordotomy was done without grafting. In the second group (12 rats), hemicor...

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