Comparison of 800 mcg Oral and Vaginal Misoprostol Prior to First Trimester Surgical Abortion: A Hospital Based Clinical Study

Ritu Agarwal

Volume : IV, Issue : VII, July - 2015

Comparison of 800 mcg Oral and Vaginal Misoprostol Prior to First Trimester Surgical Abortion: A Hospital Based Clinical Study

Ritu Agarwal

Abstract :

Introduction:Abortion was made legal under specific circumstances only in 1971. Misoprostol has been found to be an effective drug with few side effects. Aim:To compare the safety, efficacy, side effects and complications of oral and vaginal misoprostol for cervical priming prior to surgical abortion. Design:Prospective randomised controlled study Material and Methods: 800mcg misoprostol was used and evaluation was done at the end of 3 hour. Result: A total of 675 patients met the eligibility criteria for first trimester surgical abortion but 95 patients were excluded from final analysis. Both the groups were well comparable. Mean cervical dilatation (CD) in oral group was 6.34�2.21 mm and in vaginal group it was 7.47�1.96 mm (unpaired t test value: 2.914, p value 0.004 (Highly significant) with 95% confidence interval). Failure rate was significantly higher (p value <0.05) in the oral group (23.64%) compare to vaginal group (6.56%). Side effect were higher in oral misoprostol group though nausea and vomiting were significantly higher in the oral misoprostol group (p value <0.005), remaining were higher but not significant (p value >0.05). Conclusion:Misoprostol when used vaginally resulted in a better efficacy in terms of cervical dilatation as compared to the oral route for cervical priming prior to first trimester surgical abortion and also vaginally used misoprostol resulted in fewer side effects as compared to the oral route.