Vibroacoustic stimulation

{{Short description|Antenatal test of fetal heart rate}}

Vibroacoustic stimulation (VAS), sometimes referred to as fetal vibroacoustic stimulation or fetal acoustic stimulation test (FAST), is the application of a vibratory sound stimulus to the abdomen of a pregnant woman to induce FHR (fetal heart rate) accelerations. The presence of FHR accelerations reliably predicts the absence of fetal metabolic acidemia. Vibroacoustic stimulation is typically used during a nonstress test (NST).{{cite book |author1=Chervenak, Frank A. |author2=Kurjak, Asim |title=Textbook of Perinatal Medicine, Second Edition (Two Volumes) |publisher=Informa Healthcare |year=2006 |pages=963 |isbn=1-84214-333-6 }}{{cite book |title= Fetal Heart Monitoring: Principles and Practices|last= Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses |author-link= AWHONN|editor= Audrey Lyndon, Linda Usher Ali|edition= 3rd|year= 2005|publisher= Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co|location=Dubuque, IA |isbn= 978-0-7575-6234-1}}

In 2013, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews concluded that there was insufficient evidence from randomized trials to support its use to assess fetal well-being in labor.{{cite journal | last1 = East | first1 = C. E. | last2 = Smyth | first2 = R. M. | last3 = Leader | first3 = L. R. | last4 = Henshall | first4 = N. E. | last5 = Colditz | first5 = P. B. | last6 = Lau | first6 = R. | last7 = Tan | first7 = K. H. | editor1-last = East | editor1-first = Christine E | title = Vibroacoustic stimulation for fetal assessment in labour in the presence of a nonreassuring fetal heart rate trace | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD004664.pub3 | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews| volume = 1 | pages = CD004664 | year = 2013 | issue = 1 | pmid = 23440793 | url = http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:293302/UQ293302_OA.pdf | pmc = 7212002 }} A related Cochrane Review, however, concluded that its use in antenatal testing did reduce the incidence of non-reactive cardiotocography and the overall testing time.{{cite journal | last1 = Tan | first1 = K. H. | last2 = Smyth | first2 = R. M. | last3 = Wei | first3 = X. | editor1-last = Tan | editor1-first = Kelvin H | title = Fetal vibroacoustic stimulation for facilitation of tests of fetal wellbeing | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD002963.pub2 |journal=The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews| volume = 12 | pages = CD002963 | year = 2013 | issue = 12 | pmid = 24318543 | pmc = 11500819 }}