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

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 micro g 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 micro g 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.