A comparison of two dosing regimens of intravaginal misoprostol for second-trimester pregnancy termination.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the effectiveness of misoprostol administered intravaginally every 6 versus every 12 hours for termination of second-trimester pregnancies.


METHODS
One hundred pregnant women at 12-22 weeks' gestation were randomized to receive 200 microg of misoprostol intravaginally either every 6 or every 12 hours for up to 48 hours.


RESULTS
The incidences of abortion within 48 hours after initial drug administration were 87.2 and 89.2%, the complete abortion rates 43.9 and 33.3%, and the mean abortion intervals 13.8 and 14.0 hours in the 6- and 12-hour groups, respectively. Side effects were similar between groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Misoprostol administered vaginally is effective for terminating second-trimester pregnancies. Shortening the dosing interval from 12 to 6 hours produced no significant benefit.
Jain
J K
JK
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Women's & Children's Hospital, Los Angeles County Medical Center, 90033, USA. sdavenpo@hsc.usc.edu
Kuo
J
J
Mishell
D R
DR
D000020:Abortifacient Agents, Nonsteroidal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000282:Administration, Intravaginal; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016595:Misoprostol / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second
D000020:Abortifacient Agents, Nonsteroidal; D016595:Misoprostol