Second-trimester pregnancy interruption with vaginal misoprostol in women with previous cesarean section.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the experience of misoprostol use for pregnancy interruption in the second trimester of women with previous cesarean section.

METHODS

Seventeen pregnant women with viable fetuses and with previous cesarean section indicated for second trimester pregnancy interruption attending Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital were recruited. All received the same regimen of 400 mcg intravaginal misoprostol every 6 hours. The data was analyzed for demographic characteristics, the adverse outcomes, success rate, and time interval to fetal expulsion.

RESULTS

The incidences of adverse outcomes were as follows, fever (47.1%), chill (23.5%), and nausea (17.6%). No uterine rupture occurred in this series at all. The rate of oxytocin use and analgesia requirement was 29.4%. Success rate of pregnancy interruption was 100%, though two of them had an abortion time of more than 48 hours. Time interval from misoprostol administration to fetal expulsion was 25.9 +/- 34. 1 hours (range 4.0-142.7 hours).

CONCLUSIONS

This case series reaffirms the efficacy of misoprostol and suggests that misoprostol may relatively be safe even in cases with previous cesarean section. Therefore, misoprostol may be an option of pregnancy interruption in the second trimester to avoid unnecessary surgical procedure including hysterotomy. However, the safety should be tested by further studies with a larger sample size.