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

• Main Authors: Pongsatha S., Tongsong T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-3042831727&partnerID=40&md5=f2fa279ceffb40515db5cbfc27bb2780; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15210046; http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/handle/6653943832/4140
• Institution: Chiang Mai University

Objective: To assess the efficacy and maternal side-effects of oral misoprostol for second trimester termination of pregnancies with intrauterine fetal death. Methods: A prospective descriptive study was conducted on 63 pregnant women who had intrauterine fetal death with unfavorable cervix (Bishop scores ≤4). All received 400 μg of misoprostol orally every 4 h until favorable cervix was achieved. Main outcome measures included success rate of termination within 12, 24, 36 and 48 h, mean induction to delivery time and maternal side-effects. Results: The success rates of termination within 12, 24, 36, 48 h were 50.8%, 84.1%, 88.9% and 92.1%, respectively. Mean induction to delivery time in cases of delivery within 48 h was 13.2 ± 8.4 h, range 2.25-22.9 h. The most common maternal side-effect was chill (33.3%). No serious maternal complication was detected. Conclusion: 400 μg oral misoprostol every 4 h is effective for pregnancy termination in cases of intrauterine fetal death and may be an alternative regimen because of its ease and convenience.