Role of misoprostol 4 hourly versus 6 hourly in medical termination of pregnancy in 2nd trimester.

Objective: To determine efficacy of misoprostol given in 4 hourly versus 6 hourly intervals in second trimester for termination of pregnancy. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Study was conducted at the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Jinnah Medical and Dental College Karachi Allied Hospital. Period: March to August 2020. Material & Methods: Pregnant ladies in second trimester, requiring abortion due to medical reasons, were planned for termination of pregnancy. Two groups were made. Patients in Group-A were given misoprostol 4 hourly and those in Group-B were given misoprostol 6 hourly. Similar dose of drug (200ug) was given in both groups and monitoring was done. If abortion done in 48 hours, it was considered effective abortion and if not happened in 48 hours, it was considered a failed abortion. Consent was taken from all ladies in study group. Ethical approval was taken from ethical review committee. Results: Total 140 cases were studied, 70 cases in each group, A & B. Age range of cases was 16-40 years with mean age of 26.4±3.5 years. Most of the cases were having age between 20-30 years (63.5%). Group-A (N=70) was given misoprostol 4 hourly, where abortion was done in 94.3% cases while abortion failed in 5.7% cases. In Group-B (N=70) misoprostol was given 6 hourly, induced abortion in 82.8% and failed in 17.1% cases. Conclusion: Misoprostol dose of 20ug given via vaginal route is much effective drug for medical termination of pregnancy when given 4 hourly instead 6 hourly, with low failure rate.