Effects of misoprostol in reducing blood loss during abdominal myomectomy in Nigeria.

Abstract

Despite using a tourniquet to reduce bleeding during abdominal myomectomy, the procedure is still complicated by significant intraoperative bleeding. To determine whether misoprostol and tourniquet compared with tourniquet alone would significantly reduce bleeding during abdominal myomectomy at two tertiary hospitals in Enugu. This study is an open-label randomized controlled trial. A total of 126 consenting participants were recruited from women booked for abdominal myomectomy at the study centers over 7 months. They were randomized into groups A (vaginal misoprostol 400 μg) and B (no misoprostol) one hour before surgery. Intraoperatively, all participants had a tourniquet application. Intraoperative and postoperative blood loss was compared between the two groups. Descriptive and inferential analyses were carried out using IBM SPSS Version 22.0. A P- value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. An intention-to-treat analysis was carried out. All 63 participants (100%) and 56 (90%) completed the study according to the protocol in groups A and B, respectively. Socio-demographic characteristics were not significantly different in both groups. The mean intraoperative blood loss in the "misoprostol group" (522.6 ± 127.91 ml) was significantly lower than in the "no-misoprostol group" (583.5 ± 186.20 ml), with P = 0.028. The difference in mean hemoglobin (g/dl) was lower in the "misoprostol group" than in the "no-misoprostol group" (1.3 ± 0.79 vs. 1.9 ± 0.89, P < 0.001). The mean 48 hours postoperative blood loss (ml) between the two groups was 323.8 ± 221.44 vs. 549.4 ± 519.72), with P = 0.001. Among women receiving tourniquet during myomectomy in Enugu, the additional use of vaginal misoprostol 400 μg significantly reduced intraoperative blood loss.