Open AccessThe use of antiprogestin (RU 486) for termination of second trimester pregnancy
Author(s) -
Goitlieb Claes,
Bygdeman Marc
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
acta obstetricia et gynecologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1600-0412
pISSN - 0001-6349
DOI - 10.3109/00016349109006210
Subject(s) - medicine , vomiting , pregnancy , cervix , pregnancy termination , mifepristone , abortion , misoprostol , prostaglandin , obstetrics , vacuum aspiration , cervical canal , incomplete abortion , gynecology , anesthesia , family planning , population , research methodology , cancer , genetics , environmental health , biology
Pretreatment with laminaria tent is often used in prostaglandin‐induced second‐trimester abortion to increase efficacy and shorten induction‐to‐abortion time. In the present study, two alternatives to soften the cervix and dilate the cervical canal, the antiprogestin RU 486 and intra‐cervical application of PGE 2 , were studied. The study included 71 women requesting legal abortion in the 15th to 23rd week of pregnancy who were treated with repeated vaginal applications of 9‐methylene PGE, in a hydrophilic gel (5 mg every 4th hour) following pretreatment with 200 mg of RU 486 and/or intracervical administration of 0.5 mg of PGE 2 gel. The mean interval from start of vaginal prostaglandin treatment to abortion was 13.2 h after intracervical PG‐treatment, 10.0 h after antiprogestin and 6.6 h after the combined pretreatment. Patients who received pretreatment with RU 486 alone or in combination with intracervical PGE, experienced the lowest frequency of episodes of vomiting. Of these two pretreatment alternatives, RU 486 alone has the advantage of a shorter hospital stay. It can be concluded that vaginal administration of 9‐methylene PGE 2 after pretreatment with RU 486 was a highly effective, safe and rapid procedure for termination of mid‐trimester pregnancy, was well tolerated by the patients and was associated with few side effects.