Therapeutic termination of second trimester pregnancies with intrauterine fetal death with 400 micrograms of oral misoprostol

Outcomes of Pregnancy Termination of Dead Fetus in Utero in Second Trimester by Misoprostol with Various Regimens

Objective: To determine the efficacy and adverse outcomes of misoprostol with various regimens for the second-trimester-pregnancy termination of a dead fetus in utero (DFIU). Patients and Methods: A retrospective descriptive study, based on the prospective database, was conducted on pregnancies with dead fetuses in utero in the second trimester. All patients underwent pregnancy termination with various regimens of misoprostol. Results: A total of 199 pregnancies meeting the inclusion criteria were included. The mean age of the participants and the mean gestational age were 30.2 years and 21.1 weeks, respectively. The two most common regimens were 400 mcg injected intravaginally every six hours and 400 mcg taken orally every four hours. In the analysis of the overall efficacy, including all regimens, the mean fetal delivery time was 18.9 h. When considering only the cases involving a delivery within 48 h (success cases), the mean fetal delivery time was 13.6 h. The rates of fetal delivery for all cases at 12, 24, 36, and 48 h were 50.3%, 83.8%, 89.3%, and 93.9%. In the comparison between the various regimens, there were no significant differences in the rate of fetal delivery at 12, 24, 36, and 48 h and adverse effects such as chill, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and other parameters such as the requirement for intravenous analgesia, the requirement for curettage for incomplete abortions, the mean total dose of misoprostol, and the rate of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). Nevertheless, the rate of fever was significantly higher in the regimen of intravaginal insertion of 400 mcg every six hours and that of the requirement for oxytocin was significantly higher in the regimen of oral supplementation of 400 mcg every four hours. Conclusions: The overall success rate within 48 h was 93.6%, which was not different among the various misoprostol regimens. In addition, there were no significant differences in the mean fetal delivery times and the rates of fetal delivery at 12, 24, 36, and 48 h. However, some parameters such as fever, oxytocin requirement, and mean total dose of misoprostol were statistically significant between regimens. In the aspect of global health, misoprostol can be a good option in clinical practice, especially in geographical areas with low-resource levels.

How to manage unresponsiveness to misoprostol in failed second trimester pregnancy termination

AIM

To present the experience of management of second trimester pregnancy termination by misoprostol after failure to abort within 48 h of its use.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A retrospective, cohort descriptive study was carried out in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University Thailand between 1998 and 2010. All women at 14-28 weeks of gestation who failed to abort using misoprostol within 48 h were included. Management of failed pregnancy termination among these women is described here.

RESULTS

Of a total of 680 women undergoing termination of pregnancy, 68 (10%) failed to abort. Mean maternal age was 28.71 years and mean gestational age was 19.91 weeks. Further management after failure included additional administration of misoprostol only (19.1%), modified condom balloon technique only (17.7%), modified condom balloon technique plus other methods (16.1%), while 47.1% needed only oxytocin as necessary. The mean interval between initiation of termination and delivery was 96.97 h.

CONCLUSION

  Failure of pregnancy termination using misoprostol can be successfully managed by introducing additional misoprostol, modified condom balloon technique and oxytocin infusion. These methods should be considered before proceeding to hysterotomy.

Misoprostol vs mifepristone and misoprostol in second trimester termination of pregnancy

OBJECTIVE

The present study was conducted with the aim to assess and comparatively evaluate the safety and efficacy of misoprostol alone and mifepristone with misoprostol for second trimester termination of pregnancy.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

The study was conducted on 200 selected cases, divided in two groups of 100 cases each. In the study group mifepristone was given 200 mg 12 h before intravaginal insertion of 600 μg of misoprostol followed by 400 μg every 3 h up to a maximum of 5 doses or until the abortion occurs, whichever occurs early. In the control group only misoprostol was inserted in the same dose regime. The results were analyzed.

RESULTS

The success rate in both regimens was 100%. Mean induction abortion interval from the insertion of the first misoprostol tablet was significantly shorter in the mifepristone pretreated group 6.72 ± 2.26 h as compared to 12.93 ± 3.4 h in the misoprostol alone group (P < 0.001). The mean blood loss was slightly higher in the control group. The mean dose of the misoprostol required was significantly less in the study group 1,186 ± 291.64 μg as against 1,736 ± 320.20 μg (P < 0.001). The side effects observed in both the groups were similar mainly nausea vomiting, fever, abdominal cramps.

CONCLUSION

Pretreatment with mifepristone 12 h before intravaginal misoprostol significantly improves the induction abortion interval.

A Study of Efficacy of Misoprostol in Missed Abortion

BACKGROUND

Missed abortion is a common emergency where uterine evacuation is performed by surgical means.

METHOD

A total of 30 patients were included in this study to evaluate the efficacy of tablet misoprostol for uterine evacuation in cases of missed abortion. The gestational age ranged from 8-22 weeks. 21 out of 30 patients were primigravidae and the rest multigravidae. Tablet misoprostol (200mcg) was applied vaginally in the posterior fornix every eight hours to a maximum of five tablets. Success rate, complications and side effects were the main outcome measures.

RESULTS

The procedure was successful in all cases. Two out of 30 cases required check curettage. Gastrointestinal side effects like vomiting and diarrhoea were seen in few cases.

CONCLUSION

The use of tablet misoprostol is effective for uterine evacuation in cases of missed abortion.