The Diagnostic Value of the Lactate Level in the Vaginal Fluid for Determining the Premature Rupture of Membranes

Objectives: To determine the diagnostic value of the lactate concentration in vaginal secretions in determining the premature rupture of membranes. Subjects and Methods: One hundred 100 pregnant women with single pregnancy of gestational age 20–41 weeks were divided to two groups of 50 each. One group comprised of women with premature rupture of membranes, and the other (control group) of women with intact membranes. To verify the premature rupture of membranes in both groups, the speculum, fern, and nitrazine tests were done. Lactate Pro manual instrument was used to measure the lactate levels in vaginal fluid via enzymatic staining which was displayed on the instrument’s liquid crystal display after 60 seconds. Descriptive analytic statistics and SPSS 17 software were used to analyze the data. Results The lactate concentration of 4.6 mM in the vaginal fluid was diagnostic for premature rupture of membranes. It had a sensitivity of 96%, specificity of 98.8%, accuracy of 97%, positive predictive value of 97.9%, and negative predictive value of 96%. Conclusions: Testing lactate levels in the vaginal fluid is an easy, rapid and reliable method for the diagnosis of premature rupture of membranes in pregnancy.