Objective: To obtain insight into treatment duration and complications of the currently accepted method for pregnancy termination in the second trimester using a combination of prostaglandine-E2 medications.
Design: Retrospective study of medical records.
Method: Data were collected for all second trimester pregnancy terminations performed on foetal indication in the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in the years 1998-2001. The treatment consisted of vaginal administration of dinoprostone, followed by intravenous administration of sulprostone.
Results: A total of 134 pregnant women were involved in the analysis. The median age was 33 years and the median pregnancy duration 19 weeks. The median duration of hospital stay was 3 days (range: 2-11 days). The median duration of treatment for the total study population was 19 hours (4-172). For nulliparae this was 23 hours, and for multiparae 17 hours (p < 0.05). Of the total study population, 91 women (68%) delivered within 24 hours. The percentage of multiparae that delivered within 24 hours was higher than the percentage of nulliparae that delivered in this time (76% compared to 53%: p < 0.05). Operative removal of a--partially--retained placenta was conducted in 51 women (38%). This percentage was higher among women with treatment duration longer than 24 hours than among women who delivered within 24 hours (51% versus 32%; p < 0.05). The treatment duration and the complication percentage were less favourable than those described in a number of publications relating to the combination mifepristone and misoprostol.