A random sample of 798 primiparas was screened with clinical evaluation and radiologic low-dose pelvimetry of the pelvic outlet. The purpose was to study the accuracy of clinical evaluation in comparison with X-ray pelvimetry and to determine whether clinical evaluation could reveal any other factor influencing labor. A significant agreement between clinical and X-ray pelvimetry was found, but the sensitivity of clinical evaluation was low and as many as half the patients with a contracted pelvis, according to pelvimetry, were not detected. Delivery outcomes in two matched groups with similar pelvic outlet measurements but different clinical evaluation did not differ, indicating that clinical evaluation did not detect any other factor not revealed by X-ray pelvimetry.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.