Sunday, 17 February 2008

2005_10_01_archive



Drug Alternative to Surgery for Early Miscarriage

A study in the August 25 New England Journal of Medicine examined the

use of the drug Misoprostol (normally used for stomach conditions)

compared to vacuum aspiration for early miscarriage. 652 women with

1st trimester miscarriage were assigned to either the drug (491 women)

or the surgical procedure (161 women), and followed for whether

expulsion was complete at a certain number of days after treatment.

84% of women were sucessfully treated with the drug, and 97% were

successfully treated with aspiration. Women receiving the drug were

more likely to experience reduced hemoglobin, nausea, vomiting, and

diarrhea. However, 83% of women receiving Misoprostol would recommend

the drug (compared to 83% for aspiration) and 78% would use the

treatment again (compared to 75% for aspiration).

A summary is available from NIH News, and the abstract is available


No comments: