A pilot study of mifepristone in combination with sublingual or vaginal misoprostol for medical termination of pregnancy up to 63 days gestation

Of the total women included in the study, 96 women chose to receive misoprostol 600 mug sublingually while 53 women received misoprostol 800 mug vaginally 36-48 h after receiving mifepristone 200 mg. Complete abortion occurred in 93 women (98.9%) in the sublingual and 51 women (96.2%) in the vaginal group (p=0.27). The mean induction-to-abortion interval was 3.2 h (SD=1.4) in the sublingual and 4.1 h (SD=1.5) in the vaginal group (p=0.02). The mean gestation at abortion in weeks was 7.1 (SD=1.0) in the sublingual and 7.7 (SD=1.3) in the vaginal group (p=0.003). Women in the sublingual group experienced more vomiting (p=0.03), diarrhea (p=0.02) and unpleasant taste in their mouth (p=0.0001) while those in the vaginal group experienced more headache (p=0.002). Of women in the sublingual group, 77% were satisfied with the route of misoprostol administration compared to 68% in the vaginal group (p=0.25). These findings now need to be assessed in the context of a randomized controlled trial. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.