[Clinical experience from transcervical intra-amnionic hypertonic saline instillation for termination of pregnancy in...

Transcervical intra-amnionic hypertonic saline instillation was used and tested for its practicability on pregnant women in the second trimester with contra-indications to prostaglandins. The pregnancies were terminated without any remarkable complication, under most stringent observation of aseptic conditions, careful cleaning of the birth canal, and preventive use of broad-range antibiotics. Immediate morbidity accounted for 4.35 per cent. Hence, the technique was not inferior to other approaches, when reference was made to negative outcome of termination. No late morbidity was recorded by clinical follow-up checks. Once the method will be verified by a higher number of patients and further improved, for example, by reducing the time required for induction, it may become a readily practicable and inexpensive variant of termination in the second trimester.