Comparison of the effect of intrauterine misoprostol administration with sublingual in second trimester abortions induction

Abstract

Induced abortion means the termination of pregnancy by medical or surgical method and there are several methods to do it. Misoprostol is one of these methods. The best way to use this drug to induce abortion is still in question. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of intrauterine misoprostol with sublingual administration in inducing abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy. Method: Women with indications of abortion referred to Al-Zahra (S) and Taleghani Hospitals in Tabriz between September 2022 and September 2023 including 106 women were included in the study. The patients were randomly divided into sublingual and intrauterine misoprostol groups, and there were 53 pregnant mothers in each group. Necessary data about patients were collected and compared between two groups. Results; 11 mothers in the intrauterine group and 8 in the sublingual group had unsuccessful abortions (p=0.447). The average time interval between misoprostol intake and the occurrence of miscarriage among the mothers of the sublingual group was significantly less compared to the mothers of the intrauterine group. However, no significant difference was observed in terms of incomplete or complete abortion between the patients of the two groups. Also, the drop in hemoglobin after abortion was more severe among patients in the intrauterine group. The incidence of non-major complications such as nausea and fever was higher in mothers of sublingual than intrauterine group. However, in terms of major complications requiring curettage during abortion, there was no difference between the two groups. The overall satisfaction level of both misoprostol administration methods was acceptable.