PeriCALM® Shoulder Screen™

The Only Patented Screening Tool for Shoulder Dystocia

PeriCALM Shoulder Screen: Why It’s Needed

Shoulder dystocia is a rare occurrence appearing in 1-2% of births, usually without injury. Although clinicians focus on drills and simulation training to manage it, they simply don’t have enough exposure to predict or prevent it. The fact that over 90% of their patients will have at least 1 of the ACOG Criteria for shoulder dystocia, presents physicians with a real dilemma. Without the PeriCALM Shoulder Screen, physicians cannot “narrow the funnel” of patients who are truly at risk, and fewer than 2% of their patients will meet standard criteria for a prophylactic cesarean.
  • A web-based tool, used in the prenatal period, to identify women at risk for shoulder dystocia with brachial plexus injury
  • Used in OB-GYN offices as well as hospital clinics and triage settings
  • Research study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology (online 6/4/12) shows shoulder dystocia rates fell by more than 50% with no increase in the primary cesarean rate in patients whose physicians used the PeriCALM Shoulder Screen tool

4 Steps Closer to Reducing Shoulder Dystocia with Brachial Plexus Injury

  1. A checklist at 36 weeks identifies which patients are recommended for further testing. Additional patients may be tested, if desired.
  2. The PeriCALM Shoulder Screen Program is deployed on a secure web site. Physicians log-in to personal sites to enter their patients' data.
  3. The application produces both graphical and numerical estimates of personalized risk.
  4. The web site contains specialized consent forms so that a patient can attest to understanding her own risk, the limitations of estimating risk, available delivery options, and her
preference for delivery method. It also contains explanatory material for distribution to mothers,  relevant background material for health care professionals, and links for technical support.
  • 65,000 patients have participated in the PeriCALM Shoulder Screen program.
  • More than 12,000 of them were then identified as having key risk factors for shoulder dystocia with injury and received their personalized estimate of risk.

Consumer Shoulder Screen Campaign: Starting the Conversation

As a patient safety advocate, PeriGen launched a consumer patient safety campaign designed to inform pregnant women about shoulder dystocia. The “Starting the Conversation” campaign will enable pregnant women to learn about the health impact of weight gain during pregnancy, and take a self-assessment test (the Prescreen Checklist) to see if they might have a key risk factor for shoulder dystocia. Consumers who may have one or more risk factors after completing the brief Prescreen Checklist are encouraged to discuss the results with their physician and start an important conversation. The Prescreen Checklist is a component of the PeriCALM Shoulder Screen tool that is used in the physician office.