OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to compare efficacy for four medical abortion regimens used in one clinic setting: (1) misoprostol alone, (2) oral methotrexate + buccal misoprostol, (3) oral methotrexate + vaginal misoprostol, and (4) intramuscular methotrexate + vaginal misoprostol. DESIGN Retrospective analysis of data from clinical records. SETTING An anonymous women's health c...

CONTEXT Nearly half of unintended pregnancies and more than one-fifth of all pregnancies in the United States end in abortion. No nationally representative statistics on abortion incidence or on the universe of abortion providers have been available since 1996. METHODS In 2001-2002, The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) conducted its 13th survey of all known U.S. abortion providers, collecting ...

BACKGROUND A combination of mifepristone and misoprostol provides an effective method of medical abortion for early pregnancy. A new route of administration of misoprostol, the sublingual route, was investigated in this study. METHODS One hundred women who requested legal termination of pregnancy up to 63 days were given 200 mg of oral mifepristone followed 48 h later by 800 microg (4 x 200 m...

Misoprostol is a synthetic prostaglandin E(1) analogue that is commonly used for medical abortion. It can be given orally, vaginally and sublingually. A pharmacokinetic study has shown that sublingual misoprostol has the shortest onset of action, the highest peak concentration and the greatest bioavailability among the three routes of administration. Earlier clinical trials have shown that vagi...

BACKGROUND Medical abortion is under-used in developing countries. We assessed whether early fi rst-trimester medical abortion provided by midlevel providers (government-trained, certified nurses and auxiliary nurse midwives) was as safe and effective as that provided by doctors in Nepal. METHODS This multicentre randomised controlled equivalence trial was done in fi ve rural district hospita...

BACKGROUND Unsafe abortion is estimated to account for 13% of maternal mortality globally. Medical abortion is a safe alternative. METHODS By estimating mortality risks for unsafe and medical abortion and childbirth for Tanzania and Ethiopia, we modelled changes in maternal mortality that are achievable if unsafe abortion were replaced by medical abortion. We selected Ethiopia and Tanzania be...

Introduction Evidence shows that eight per cent of maternal mortality in India is caused by unsafe abortions. India was one of the pioneer countries to legalize its abortion services as early as 1971. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP) is an enabling regulation, which allows MTP on both medical and social grounds and thus facilitates access to safe abortion services. However, despit...

CONTEXT Abortion induced by drugs is now a viable alternative to surgically induced abortion for U. S. women. Women's willingness to use these new methods of medical abortion hinges on the extent to which they prove acceptable, however. METHODS Among 304 women participating in a clinical trial of medical abortion, 186 received a methotrexate-induced abortion and 118 were offered the option of...