Midtrimester abortion by intraamniotic prostaglandin F2alpha. Safer than saline?

Published reports disagree on the risks of intraamniotic prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) for midtrimester abortion. To evaluate the safety and efficacy of intraamniotic PGF2alpha, we compared 1241 PGF2alpha and 10,013 saline abortions performed during the 13th to the 24th menstrual week. The results were reported in the Joint Program for the Study of Abortion/CDC, a multicenter prospective study. PGF2alpha abortions required less time (P less than .001) but had higher rates of major complications (P less than .01), antibiotic and operative treatment of complications (P less than .001), and readmission to a hospital (P less than .001). These findings challenge the current contention that PGF2alpha is safer than saline as an abortifacient.