Oral misoprostol use in early complicated pregnancy

Eighty-four patients with early complicated pregnancies such as intrauterine death, blighted ovum pregnancy and missed abortion were treated with oral misoprostol. If abortion did not occur, 200 micrograms misoprostol was given once an hour, with an average dose of 1000 micrograms (min 200 micrograms, max 1200 micrograms). Complete or partial abortion took place within 7.0 +/- 5.1 h in 92.5% of patients. Of the patients, 11.9% and 83.3% had complete and partial abortion, respectively, without major complications. We observed only minor side-effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension, fever, headache and abdominal pain. This study demonstrates that the use of oral misoprostol is a simple, inexpensive and easy procedure for terminating early complicated pregnancies, although additional surgical evacuation of the uterus was required in the large majority of patients.