How quickly does Lamicel dilate the cervix?

Summary

Lamicel is a synthetic cervical dilator used before legal abortion and before outpatient endometrial sampling. The rate of cervical dilatation was investigated in a longitudinal observational study with serial ultrasound measurements. The ultimate cervical dilatation is variable but the pregnant cervix dilates more than the nonpregnant cervix (range 6-10 mm and 6-5-8-5 mm respectively). The non-pregnant and pregnant cervix dilates to 80 per cent of its dilatation in 3 hours and 4 hours respectively. Therefore, the overnight use of Lamicel is unnecessary.