Pregnancy outcome after loop electrosurgical excision procedure for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Objective To determine pregnancy outcomes among women who underwent loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP). Methods In a case-control study in Italy, 475 pregnant women who underwent LEEP and 441 untreated pregnant women were enrolled between January 2003 and January 2007. Outcome measures were spontaneous abortion, preterm delivery, and at-term delivery rates. Continuous and discrete variables were analyzed via t, χ2, and Fisher exact tests. Groups were compared by analysis of variance and Tukey HSD test. Results The spontaneous abortion rate was 14.5% and 14.1% in the LEEP and untreated groups, respectively. The preterm delivery rate was 6.4% and 5.0% in the LEEP and untreated groups, respectively. The number of women with a cervical length of less than 30 mm was higher in the LEEP group, but this did not influence preterm delivery rate (odds ratio [OR], 1.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.53-1.95). Among women with a cervical length of less than 15 mm, those treated with a wider removal of cervical tissue showed increased risk of preterm delivery (OR, 5.31; 95% CI, 1.01-28.07). Conclusion The preterm delivery rate was not higher among women who underwent LEEP than among untreated women. Preterm delivery was associated with cone size and cervical length in the second trimester.