Prevention of brachial plexus injury—12 years of shoulder dystocia training: an interrupted time‐series study

• Published in: BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology Vol. 123; no. 1; pp. 111 - 118
• Main Authors: Crofts, JF, Lenguerrand, E, Bentham, GL, Tawfik, S, Claireaux, HA, Odd, D, Fox, R, Draycott, TJ
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.01.2016
• Subjects: Adult; Birth Injuries - prevention & control; Brachial Plexus - injuries; Brachial plexus injury; Childbirth & labor; Delivery, Obstetric - education; Delivery, Obstetric - methods; Dystocia - prevention & control; Education, Medical, Continuing; Emergency Medicine - education; Evidence-Based Medicine; Female; Guideline Adherence; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Interrupted Time Series Analysis; Neonatal care; Obstetrics; Obstetrics - education; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Pregnancy; Shoulder; shoulder dystocia; Shoulder Injuries; simulation; training; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK; Brachial plexus injury; training; shoulder dystocia; simulation
• ISSN: 1470-0328; 1471-0528
• DOI: 10.1111/1471-0528.13302

Objective To investigate management and outcomes of incidences of shoulder dystocia in the 12 years following the introduction of an obstetric emergencies training programme. Design Interrupted time‐series study comparing management and neonatal outcome of births complicated by shoulder dystocia over three 4‐year periods: (i) Pre‐training (1996–99), (ii) Early training (2001–04), and (iii) Late training (2009–12). Setting Southmead Hospital, Bristol, UK, with approximately 6000 births per annum. Population Infants and their mothers who experienced shoulder dystocia. Method A bi‐monthly multi‐professional 1‐day intrapartum emergencies training course, that included a 30‐minute practical session on shoulder dystocia management, commenced in 2000. Main Outcomes Neonatal morbidity (brachial plexus injury, humeral fracture, clavicular fracture, 5‐minute Apgar score <7) and documented management of shoulder dystocia (resolution manoeuvres performed, traction applied, head‐to‐body delivery interval). Results Compliance with national guidance improved with continued training. At least one recognised resolution manoeuvre was used in 99.8% (561/562) of cases of shoulder dystocia in the late training period, demonstrating a continued improvement from 46.3% (150/324, P < 0.001) pre‐training, and 92% (241/262, P < 0.001) in the early training period. In parallel there was reduction in the brachial plexus injury at birth (24/324 [7.4%, P < 0.01], pre‐training, 6/262 [2.3%] early training, and 7/562 [1.3%] late training. Conclusions There are significant benefits to long‐term, embedded training programmes with improvements in both management and outcomes. A decade after the introduction of training there were no cases of brachial plexus injury lasting over 12 months in 562 cases of shoulder dystocia.