How painful are amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling?
Csaba A; Bush MC; Saphier C First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary, H-1088, Hungary. OBJECTIVES: To compare the levels of pain and anxiety associated with amniocentesis (AC), transabdominal chorionic villus sampling (TA-CVS), and transcervical chorionic villus sampling (TC-CVS). METHODS: We prospectively administered a questionnaire about pain and anxiety to 124 women undergoing AC, 40 undergoing TA-CVS, and 24 undergoing TC-CVS for singleton pregnancies. The level of pain was quantified with numerical and pictorial scales and the degree of anxiety was quantified with a numerical scale (0-100 in increments of 10). RESULTS: The mean pain score for TA-CVS, 41.4 +/- 18.1, was significantly higher than that for TC-CVS, 26.4 +/- 25.3, p = 0.008. The mean pain score for AC, 35.1 +/- 27.6, was intermediate. A higher degree of anxiety was associated with younger maternal age and nulliparity. A higher degree of anxiety was associated with a highe
