Misoprostol as the primary agent for medical abortion in a low-income urban setting.
The purpose of this study was to assess the outcomes of early medical abortion in an inner-city hospital abortion service, using misoprostol as the primary agent. This was a retrospective chart review from July 2001 through December 2002. Women were eligible if they had a viable pregnancy with gestational age 8 weeks or less by transvaginal ultrasound and no medical contraindications. Two doses of 800 microg misoprostol were administered vaginally, 24 h apart. Initial follow-up was scheduled 2-3 days later. Of the 440 women who underwent medical abortion, 373 (90.8%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 88-94%) completed abortion medically, 38 (9.2%) had uterine aspiration and the remainder had incomplete or no follow-up. Of uterine aspirations, 11 were medically indicated, giving a rate of indicated aspiration of 2.7%. Gestational age, age, gravidity, parity, past abortion history, ethnic group and payer did not significantly correlate with overall rate of aspiration or rate of follow-up, but gestational age was correlated with medically indicated aspiration. Among 57 women who reported a time of tissue passage, the mean time from initial misoprostol dose was 8.5 h (95% CI 6.5-13 h).
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, 85 East Concord Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02118, USA. lynn.borgatta@bmc.org
Lynn
L
Borgatta
Brigid
B
Mullally
Olivera
O
Vragovic
Elizabeth
E
Gittinger
Angela
A
Chen
D000020:Abortifacient Agents, Nonsteroidal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000379:methods*; D000282:Administration, Intravaginal; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D016595:Misoprostol / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011203:Poverty; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013396:Suction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014505:Urban Population
D000020:Abortifacient Agents, Nonsteroidal; D016595:Misoprostol