A prospective randomized comparison of sublingual and oral misoprostol when combined with mifepristone for medical abortion at 12–20 weeks gestation
BACKGROUND: Sublingual misoprostol has been shown to be effective in medical abortion. A prospective double-blinded placebo-controlled trial was done to compare the efficacy and side-effects of sublingual to oral misoprostol when used with mifepristone for medical abortion from 12 to 20 weeks gestat...
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Published in | Human reproduction (Oxford) Vol. 20; no. 11; pp. 3062 - 3066 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Oxford
Oxford University Press
01.11.2005
Oxford Publishing Limited (England) |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | BACKGROUND: Sublingual misoprostol has been shown to be effective in medical abortion. A prospective double-blinded placebo-controlled trial was done to compare the efficacy and side-effects of sublingual to oral misoprostol when used with mifepristone for medical abortion from 12 to 20 weeks gestation. METHODS: A total of 120 women at 12–20 weeks of gestation were randomized to receive 200 mg oral mifepristone followed by either sublingual or oral misoprostol 400 mg every 3 h for a maximum of five doses 36–48 h later. The course of misoprostol was repeated if the woman did not abort within 24 h. RESULTS: There was no significant difference (P = 0.43) in the success rate at 24 h [relative risk = 1.075; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.94–1.19]. Abortion occurred in 91.4% in the sublingual group (95% CI: 81.0–96.7%) as compared to 85.0% (95% CI: 73.7–92.1%) in the oral group. The median induction-to-abortion interval was significantly shorter (P = 0.009) in the sublingual group (5.5 h) as compared to the oral group (7.5 h). The incidence of fever was higher in the sublingual group (P < 0.0001). The incidences of other side-effects were similar. CONCLUSION: Sublingual misoprostol, when combined with mifepristone, is effective for medical abortion in the second trimester. The induction-to-abortion interval is shorter when sublingual misoprostol is used when compared to oral misoprostol. |
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Bibliography: | ark:/67375/HXZ-415RCLPR-H local:196 istex:3A3F7442332F29A0B9B9D5E8407CD3F6D2B6A336 1To whom correspondence should be addressed: 6/F, Professorial Block, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, 102, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China. E-mail: ostang@graduate.hku.hk ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-News-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0268-1161 1460-2350 |
DOI: | 10.1093/humrep/dei196 |