Low-Cost Oral Regimen Could Benefit Women In Less Developed Countries.(mifespristone-misoprostol abortion could benefit women in less-developed countries)

2001 JUN 7 -- (NewsRx Network) -- A low-cost medical program of abortion involving oral consumption of mifepristone and misoprostol hormones could be of benefit to women in less-developed countries, conclude authors of a study published in the May 5, 2001, issue of the Lancet.

Mifepristone-misoprostol abortion, consisting of oral pills, is potentially simple and safe enough for use in less-developed countries. But the labor-intensive, costly, clinic-based European protocols are not affordable or feasible in most of these settings.

Batya Elul and colleagues from the Population Council, New York, prospectively tested two simplifications to the French mifepristone-misoprostol regimen in Vietnam and Tunisia.

Study participants were 315 pregnant women (120 in Vietnam, 195 in Tunisia) seeking termination of pregnancy and who had not had a menstrual period for up to eight weeks. They received 200 mg mifepristone (a third of the recommended European dose) in a clinic and then chose whether to take 400 [micro]g oral misoprostol two days later either at home or in a clinic.

Success rates were high, Elul et al. reported: 93% in Vietnam, 91% in Tunisia. About ...