Efficacy of mifepristone and misoprostol in termination of pregnancy in second and third trimester versus intraamniotic application of prostaglandins

Abstract

Introduction: According to the published data, a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol is recommended in literature for labour induction in the second and third pregnancy trimester after a foeticide due to a fetal malformation or intrauterine fetal death and for abortion induction in the first pregnancy weeks. At our department we perform foeticide by applying Fentanyl and Xylocaine into the fetal heart. Since the intraamnial input is applied in this procedure, we also perform labour induction by intraamnial prostaglandin application. During the first weeks of pregnancy we performs abortion induction with mifepristone and misoprostol. Through the analysis of our own data, we aimed at establishing in what time fetal expulsion occurs after abortion induction with mifepristone and misoprostol compared to labour induction through intraamnial prostaglandin application. Methods: The retrospective study included all women on whom abortion or labour induction was performed between 2010 and 2015 due to fetal malformations established by means of ultrasound. The first group included all participants in the 16th–24th week of pregnancy or with the fetus weight under 500 g determined through ultrasound where the abortion induction was performed with mifepristone and misoprostol according to the following protocol: mifepristone 200 mg orally, followed 36–48 h later by misoprostol 800 μg vaginally, then misoprostol 400 μm orally, 3-hourly, to a maximum of four further doses. The second group included women after the 24th week of pregnancy or with the fetus weight above 500 g determined through ultrasound. Labour induction were performed through intraamnial 1000 μg prostaglandin application. We compared the time at which the fetal expulsion occurred after the beginning of induction in the first group with the same time in the second group. Results and conclusions: Based on the data from literature, the best abortion or labour induction method is the application of mifepristone and misoprostol regardless of the duration of pregnancy. The aim of our research was to establish whether the cases when a foeticide needs to be performed and therefore intraamnial input is already being used it also makes sense to apply prostaglandins in order to commence induction at the same time. Compared to the protocol with mifepristone and misoprostol we benefit from extra time since it is recommended to wait 36–48 h after mifepristone application before misoprostol application is continued. Based on the data from literature, the time to fetal expulsion in case of induced abortions or labours is proportional to the duration of pregnancy. With our research, we aimed to prove that in the group with the labour induction by means of intraamnial prostaglandin application despite being further into the pregnancy, the time to fetal expulsion is shorter due to the 36–48-h-long break in the mifepristone and misoprostol protocol.