Cervical ripening with vaginal Misoprostol plus Hyoscine-N-Butylbromide versus vaginal Misoprostol alone among pregnant women: a double-blind randomised controlled trial

Objective: To compare cervical ripening time with the use of vaginal Misoprostol plus Hyoscine-N-Butylbromide, with vaginal Misoprostol alone.Design: A double-blind randomized controlled trial with Pan-African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR) approval number PACTR202112821475292Setting: Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, Nigeria.Participants: A total of 126 eligible antenatal patients for cervical ripening were enrolled.Interventions: Participants in Group A had 25μg of vaginal misoprostol with 1ml of intramuscular placebo, and those in Group B had 25μg of vaginal misoprostol with 20mg of Intramuscular Hyoscine (1 ml). Oxytocin infusion was used when indicated, and the labour was supervised as per departmental protocol.Main outcome measure: Cervical ripening timeResults: The mean cervical ripening time was statistically significantly shorter in the hyoscine group (8.48±4.36 hours) than in the placebo group (11.40±7.33 hours); p-value 0.02, 95% CI 0.80-5.05. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean induction-delivery interval in Group A (7.38±5.28 hours) compared to Group B (7.75±5.04 hours), with a value of 0.54. The mode of delivery was comparable. However, women in Group B (53, 84.1%) achieved more vaginal deliveries than women in Group A (50, 79.4%); p-value 0.49. Thirteen women in Group A (20.6%) had a caesarean section, while ten women (15.9%) in Group B had a caesarean section (p-value 0.49, RR 0.94, CI 0.80-1.11). Adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes were not statistically significant between the two groups.Conclusion: Intramuscular hyoscine was effective in reducing cervical ripening time when used as an adjunct to vaginal Misoprostol, with no significant adverse maternal or neonatal outcome.