Vaginal misoprostol 600 microg for early abortion.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the vaginal self-administration of 600 microg misoprostol up to a maximum administration of three doses in a 24-h period, one every 8 h, for abortion up to 9 weeks' gestation. A group of 90 voluntary women with gestations from 35 to 63 days participated in the study. All women who aborted received a single additional dose of 600 microg misoprostol. Outcome measures included successful abortion (complete abortion without requiring surgical procedure) and side-effects. Complete abortion occurred in 57/89 (64%, 95% confidence interval 53-74%) subjects. The mean expulsion time was 7.4 +/- 3.8 h (median 7.2 h, range 3-20 h) for all women who aborted within the first 24 h of the administration of misoprostol. Thirty-two cases failed to abort, 28 cases due to failure of the method, of which 24 had a negative cardiac rhythm after the third dose, and four cases due to the doctor's decision. The results obtained in this study led us to the conclusion that the 600-microg misoprostol dose regimen was not adequate to produce a high or an acceptable abortive efficacy.