Parikh 2001.

Methods	RCT.
Participants	30 women attending for induction for a range of indications including post‐dates and IUGR. Inclusion criteria: singleton pregnancy, term, cephalic presentation, intact membranes, Bishop score < 4. Exclusion criteria: previous C/S, sensitivity to prostaglandins, fetal distress, any medical condition such as heart disease, asthma or glaucoma.
Interventions	IV oxytocin. Initial dose 5 mU/min increasing by 5 mU/min until 4 sustained contactions in 10 mins. At 3 ‐ 4 cms cervical dilatation amniotomy performed and IV oxytocin continued. FHR closely monitored vs intracervical prostaglandin (PGE2 gel). Examination after 6 hours to assess Bishop score. If score did not exceed 6 then 2nd dose. If score above 6 then amniotomy and later augmentation with IV oxytocin if required. FHR monitored.
Outcomes	CS, fetal distress, time from induction to onset of labour, time to delivery. Successful induction.
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Adequate sequence generation?	Unclear risk	Described as "patients randomly assigned".
Blinding? Women	High risk	Not feasible. Different treatment protocols.
Blinding? clinical staff	High risk
Blinding? outcome assessor	High risk
Incomplete outcome data addressed? All outcomes	Low risk	No apparent loss to follow up.
Free of other bias?	Unclear risk	Small study without the power to detect differences between groups for main outcomes.