Human Reproduction, Vol. 17, No. 12, 3079-3083,
December 2002
© 2002 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Early pregnancy termination with vaginal misoprostol before and after 42 days gestation
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital of Ioannina, Medical School of Ioannina, GR-451 10 Ioannina, Greece
BACKGROUND: Misoprostol is a prostaglandin E1 analogue that has been used for medical abortion. We conducted this prospective study to compare the efficacy of vaginal misoprostol for abortion in women at a gestational age of <42 days and in women at a gestational age of 42–56 days. METHODS: A total of 160 women seeking medical termination of a pregnancy of <56 days were enrolled in the study. Medical termination was performed using 800 µg of vaginal misoprostol, repeated every 24 h for a maximum of three doses. RESULTS: The overall complete abortion rate was 91.3%. In group A (gestation <42 days) complete abortion occurred in 96.3% of women, whereas in group B (gestation = 42–56 days) complete abortion occurred in 86.3% of women (P < 0.025). The two groups did not differ significantly with respect to side-effects (incidence of pain, bleeding, nausea, diarrhoea, fever and headache). Women who had aborted successfully were significantly more satisfied with the method compared with women who did not (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The vaginal misoprostol-alone regimen is highly effective for women seeking medical abortion of pregnancies of 
56 days. However, better efficacy may be achieved at a gestational age of <42 days.
Key words: abortion/misoprostol/medical pregnancy termination
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: drvagpapanikolaou{at}yahoo.gr
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