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Abstract
Objective: To determine the effect of oral versus vaginal misoprostol on cervical dilatation in first-trimester intrauterine evacuation or menstrual regulation (MR). Design and methods A total of 120 patients were randomly assigned to a double-blind prestudy. Four groups, each consisting of 30 cases, were administered one of four regimens: 200 μg misoprostol orally, 200 μg misoprostol intravaginally, placebo orally, or placebo intravaginally, 10 h before MR, respectively. Age, number of births and abortions, birth methods, date of last delivery and last abortion were recorded. The gestational age was determined by ultrasonography. Prior to MR, data regarding the time of the application of the drug, the presence of placenta in the cervical canal, the degree of cervical dilatation, the duration of MR and patients' complaints were recorded. The MRs were performed by the same physician. The statistical analyses were evaluated with the χ2 test and Fisher's exact test in the Aegean University Science Faculty Department of Statistics. Results: In the oral misoprostol group, four patients had cervical bleeding and one had intracervical placenta. In the intravaginal misoprostol group, cervical bleeding was observed in seven patients and intracervical placenta was recorded in four cases. Cervical bleeding was observed in one case and intracervical placenta was also observed in one case in the oral placebo group. Cervical dilatation reached 8 mm in seven patients in the oral misoprostol group and in three patients in the intravaginal group, with none in the placebo group. Symptoms such as pelvic pain, headache and nausea were observed in 11 cases in the oral and 14 cases in the vaginal misoprostol groups. Conclusion: Different methods of misoprostol administration may not be equivalent in terms of efficacy and side-effects. Therefore, we decided to extend the study to include more patients so as to achieve statistically significant results.