Modified Ritgen Maneuver in Perineal Protection - Sixty-Year Experience.

The aim is to present the 60-year experience in modified Ritgen maneuver according to perineal injuries. This retrospective clinical observational study (1950-2010) analyzed the impact of modified Ritgen maneuver delivery technique (controlled fetal head deflexion with left hand and synchronous reduction of perineal strain with extended right hand thumb along the right side of the vulva and perineum without pushing) on peripartum perineal tears at the Maternity Ward, Bjelovar General Hospital in Bjelovar, Croatia, divided into five-year intervals. The rate of perineal tear in general was less than 5% until 2000.