Cervical cerclage is the principal treatment for women with a cervical insufficiency, which is a predominant factor in second trimester loss and preterm birth. A cervico-isthmic cerclage is recommended in case of a previous failure of McDonald cerclage or in case of an absent portio vaginalis of the cervix. In women who have prolapsed membranes at or beyond a dilated external cervical os before 24 weeks of gestation, an emergency cerclage can sometimes be performed. The aim of this study is to report our experience with emergency transvaginal cervico-isthmic cerclage.

This is a retrospective, single-centre study conducted between 2009 and 2017 of women who received a transvaginal cervico-isthmic emergency cerclage. Emergency cerclage was defined as cerclage performed on women who had prolapsed membranes at or beyong a dilated external cervical os before 24 weeks of gestation. The exclusion criteria were twin pregnancy, preterm rupture of membranes, and clinical or biological signs of infection.

Three women were included. One woman had a history of failure of emergency McDonald cerclage during her previous pregnancy. The two other women had a failure of McDonald cerclage during index pregnancy. All women presented prolapsed membranes at or beyond a dilated external cervical os as defined for an emergency cerclage. The emergency cerclage was performed at a mean gestational age of 21.5 weeks of gestation. The average gestational age of delivery was 38.5 weeks of gestation by caesarean section.

Despite the small number of women, this study shows that this type of cerclage was effective in pregnancy prolongation for women at high risk of preterm birth in case of McDonald cerclage failure. Nevertheless, this technique requires a trained surgical team. A randomised trial should be performed to evaluate the need for emergency vaginal cervico-isthmic cerclage.