A randomized trial of routine prenatal ultrasound

Abstract

Nine hundred fifteen of 2171 pregnant patients had no indication for ultrasound at their first prenatal visit and were randomly assigned to receive either a single routine screening ultrasound or usual prenatal care. The estimated date of confinement was altered in 24.9% of routine-ultrasound patients and in 11.6% of usual-care patients through ultrasound examinations obtained for a subsequent clinical indication. Of these, 8.3% of routine-ultrasound and 5.2% of usual-care patients had gestational age errors of 2 weeks or more. There were no differences between the groups in inductions for post-dates pregnancy (7.0 versus 7.5%; P = .87), total inductions (22.6 versus 24.9%; P = .61), or adverse perinatal outcomes (6.7 versus 8.3%; P = .63). Both sets of twins were detected in the screened group. In the usual-care group, five of seven pairs of twins (71%) were diagnosed by 24 weeks' gestation. There was no benefit found from routine ultrasound as performed in this study.