ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and the adverse effects of misoprostal usage for therapeutic abortion in Siriraj Hospital. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional, descriptive study. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A consecutive series of 101 therapeutic abortions was performed in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Siriraj Hospital in the year 2000. The patients were interviewed for general information and registered, as well as in-patient data. Any adverse events were recorded and collected from the inpatient record file. All data were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: 42 therapeutic abortions were conducted in association with misoprostal usage. Misoprostal was used for cervical ripening in 8 patients with a good outcome. 31 therapeutic abortions were induced by misoprostal alone regimen. A higher success rate (74.1%) was correlated with higher gestational age. 27 out of 31 cases were second trimester abortion. The induction to abortion interval was 18.0+/-10.5 hours (range 5-48). No factor, including age, weight, total dose of misoprostal use, nulliparity and viability of the fetus, could be demonstrated to affect the misoprostal activity defined by induction to abortion interval. There was no serious adverse event, except for severe abdominal cramping (26.2%) and fever (14.3%). CONCLUSION: Misoprostal alone can be used with caution for abortion induction especially in second trimester abortion.