Medical Abortion-An Alternative to Surgical Abortion.

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Health
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Surgical methods traditionally used for early pregnancy termination.
• Pharmacological agents now offer alternative routes (oral, vaginal, parenteral).
• Mifepristone and misoprostol combination studied for early pregnancy termination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of mifepristone and misoprostol combination for early pregnancy termination.

Main Methods:

• Fifty patients with amenorrhea up to 56 days and confirmed intrauterine pregnancy were enrolled.
• Mifepristone (200mg) administered on day 1, followed by misoprostol (400mcg) on day 3.
• Ultrasound performed on day 14 to confirm complete abortion.

Main Results:

• The majority of patients (70%) had amenorrhea between 40-50 days.
• Bleeding duration varied: 12% <5 days, 56% 5-10 days, 16% 10-13 days, 16% >14 days.
• No treatment failures were reported in this series; persistent products required suction evacuation.

Conclusions:

• Mifepristone and misoprostol combination is effective for terminating early pregnancy up to 56 days of amenorrhea.