vaginal versus oral misoprostol for second-trimester pregnancy termination: a randomized trial

introduction: the purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy and side effects of two different misoprostol regimens for second-trimester pregnancy termination. methods: 60 consenting women who were at 14 to 28 weeks of gestation with indications for pregnancy termination were randomly assigned to two equal groups to receive either vaginal or oral misoprostol. the dosing regimen was 400µg as the initial dose followed by 400µg and up to 3 doses (1200µg) if needed in each group. efficacy and side effects were compared. results: 30 patients randomly assigned to vaginal and 30 to oral misoprostol group. demographic characteristics were similar in both the groups. the percentage of women who delivered was significantly higher in vaginal group than the oral group (86.7 vs.43.3, p=0.0006).the average induction to delivery interval was shorter in vaginal group, but this difference was not significant (9.7±4.2 vs. 12.7±7.3 p=0.083). no significant differences in complication rates or side effects were noted between the two groups. conclusion: vaginal administration of misoprostol resulted in a higher success rate for second trimester pregnancy termination, whereas, no significant differences in induction to delivery time and complication rates were noted between vaginal and oral groups.