Transabdominal cerclage in early pregnancy for cervical shortening after radical trachelectomy: A case report

Radical trachelectomy (RT) is a method of fertility preservation for patients with early invasive uterine cervical cancer stage IA2 or IB1 with a tumor diameter of ≤2 cm. However, women who have undergone RT have high risks of abortion and premature birth. To prevent premature birth, cervical cerclage is performed in patients with an ultra-short cervix, but the portio vaginalis is not visible in these patients, and transvaginal uterine cervical cerclage is almost impossible. In such cases, transabdominal cerclage (TAC) is considered. The patient reported here was a 39-year-old Japanese woman, gravida 2, para 0. At 37 years, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, stage IB1 (according to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics [FIGO] classification), so abdominal modified RT was performed. One year after the operation, she became pregnant through in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. The cervical length was 17 mm at 13 weeks of gestation but was shortened to 5 mm at 16 weeks of gestation, so TAC was performed. An emergency cesarean section was performed because of increased genital bleeding at 34 weeks of gestation and a live baby was delivered.