Hillary Bracken

Acceptability and feasibility of phone follow-up after early medical abortion in Vietnam: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate phone follow-up with a semiquantitative urine pregnancy test and symptom checklist as a replacement for universal clinic follow-up after medical abortion. METHODS: One thousand four hundred thirty-three women seeking early medical abortion at four hospitals in Vietnam were randomized to clinic or phone follow-up. Women allocated to clinic follow-up returned to the hospital for confirmation of abortion outcome 2 weeks after mifepristone administration. Women assigned to phone follow-up completed a semiquantitative pregnancy test at initial visit to determine baseline human chorionic gonadotropin range and again at home 2 weeks later. Clinic staff called women to review the pregnancy test results and symptom checklist. Women who screened positive were referred to the clinic. Effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of the follow-up methods were assessed. RESULTS: The rate of ongoing pregnancy was not significantly different between the two groups (clinic: 2.7% phone, 2.5%, relative risk 0.9, 95% confidence interval 0.99–1.02). Eighty-five percent of women in the phone group did not need an additional clinic visit. Phone follow-up was highly effective in screening for ongoing pregnancy with a sensitivity and specificity of 92.8% and 90.6%, respectively. Specificity of the pregnancy test alone (eg, without the symptom checklist) was higher (95.7%). CONCLUSION: Phone follow-up offers a feasible and effective approach to identify women with ongoing pregnancy after early medical abortion. When used with the semiquantitative pregnancy test, the symptom checklist offered no additional benefit and decreased the specificity of the screening. Given its effectiveness and ease of use, the semiquantitative pregnancy test alone could replace routine clinic follow-up after early medical abortion. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, www.clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01150422. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: I

Acceptability and feasibility of medical abortion in Nepal

To test the feasibility and acceptability of a simplified mifepristone–misoprostol regimen for early abortion in 2 tertiary teaching hospitals and 2 family planning clinics in Nepal.

Home administration of misoprostol for early medical abortion in India.

To assess the efficacy and acceptability of home administration of misoprostol for early medical abortion in Indian family planning clinics.

Mifepristone followed in 24 hours to 48 hours by misoprostol for late first-trimester abortion.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of mifepristone and misoprostol for the termination of pregnancies in the late first trimester. METHODS: This was a prospective study of 321 women seeking termination of pregnancy with gestations from 64 days to 84 days (±3 days) by vaginal ultrasonography. Women were enrolled at three sites: University of Rochester Reproductive Health Program in Rochester, New York; Hung Vuong Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and K.E.M. Hospital in Pune, India. Eligible women received 800 mcg of misoprostol vaginally between 24 hours and 48 hours after administration of 200 mg mifepristone. Two additional doses of 400 mcg of misoprostol were administered either orally or vaginally as needed every 3 hours for a maximum of two additional doses (total 1,600 mcg). The primary study outcome measure was complete abortion without surgical intervention. RESULTS: Eighty-nine percent of women who completed the study successfully terminated their pregnancies. Most women were either satisfied (64.8%) or very satisfied (28.6%) with their experience. Ninety-four percent of women reported that they would recommend the procedure to a friend. Most women (90.4%) also agreed they would request a medical abortion if they required another abortion at this gestational age. CONCLUSION: Medical abortion is acceptable and effective in the late first trimester and offers women an acceptable alternative to surgical abortion. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II

Are two doses of misoprostol after mifepristone for early abortion better than one

Objective  The objective of this study was to determine if a repeat dose of misoprostol following mifepristone or a single dose of misoprostol increases the efficacy of medical termination of pregnancy.

Facility and personnel factors influencing magnesium sulfate use for eclampsia and pre-eclampsia in 3 Indian hospitals

To identify factors at the health facility and health professional levels that might hinder or facilitate the appropriate use of magnesium sulfate for the treatment of pre‐eclampsia and eclampsia.

Early medical abortion without prior ultrasound

OBJECTIVE To explore the potential for using last menstrual period (LMP) rather than ultrasound to establish gestational age (GA) eligibility for medical abortion. STUDY DESIGN We used the results of a recently published systematic review to identify studies with data on the number of abortion patients with GA more than 63 or 70 days by ultrasound but less than those or other specific limits by LMP. We analyzed data from these studies to estimate the proportion of women with GAs greater than 63 or 70 days by ultrasound in various subgroups of women defined by LMP. RESULTS We found three studies with relevant data. One enrolled 4257 medical abortion patients of whom 4% had GAs of >70 days by ultrasound. Of the 2681 who were certain that their LMPs began no more than 56 days prior, only 16 (0.6%) were >70 days by ultrasound. In a second much smaller study of surgical abortion patients, of whom 19% were >70 days by ultrasound, 90 women were certain that their LMPs started more than 56 days prior, and of those, 7 (7.8%) had GAs of >70 days by ultrasound. In the third study, which included surgical abortion patients with a mean GA of 61 days, at least 12% of the 138 patients with LMPs <63 days prior were >70 days by ultrasound. CONCLUSION The possibility that access to medical abortion can be enhanced for selected women by omitting the requirement for a screening ultrasound is promising and should be further investigated. IMPLICATIONS Gestational dating using LMP rather than ultrasound may be reasonable for selected patients before medical abortion.

A prospective open-label study of home use of mifepristone for medical abortion in Nepal

To assess the uptake and acceptability of self‐administration of mifepristone at home for medical abortion in Nepal.

Magnesium sulphate for prevention of eclampsia: are intramuscular and intravenous regimens equivalent? A population pharmacokinetic study

To compare magnesium sulphate concentrations achieved by intramuscular and intravenous regimens used for the prevention of eclampsia.

Buccal misoprostol for treatment of fetal death at 14–28 weeks of pregnancy: a double-blind randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE To assess whether buccal misoprostol is effective for the treatment of intrauterine fetal death. STUDY DESIGN This double-blind randomized trial was conducted at five tertiary-level hospitals in the United States and Vietnam. One hundred fifty-three women with an intrauterine fetal death at 14-28 weeks of pregnancy received either 100 mcg buccal misoprostol or 200 mcg buccal misoprostol every 6 h for a maximum of 8 doses. The main outcome measure was the fetal-placental delivery rate within 48 hours of prostaglandin commencement without any additional intervention. RESULTS Most of the women (140/153) were recruited at the study site in Vietnam. Expulsion of both fetus and placenta within 48 hours of prostaglandin commencement without any additional interventions occurred in 61.8% (47/76) of women receiving misoprostol 100 mcg and 77.9% (60/77) of women receiving misoprostol 200 mcg. The 200 mcg dose was significantly more effective than the 100 mcg dose at expelling the fetus and placenta within 48 h [RR 0.68 (95% CI: 0.50-0.92; p=.03)]. The mean time to expulsion was significantly shorter using the 200 mcg dose (18.5±11.9 h) than the 100 mcg dose (23.9±12.5 h) (p=.02). Most women in both groups found the procedure satisfactory or very satisfactory (100 mcg: 76.7% (56/73); 200 mcg: 89.5% (68/76) [RR 0.86 (95% CI: 0.74-1.00)]. CONCLUSION Buccal misoprostol is an effective method for medical induction of labor after intrauterine fetal demise. A 200 mcg dose is significantly more effective than 100 mcg for evacuating the uterus within 48h. The treatment is highly acceptable to women. IMPLICATIONS Administration of 200 mcg buccal misoprostol every six hours is an effective and acceptable method to effect the delivery of a demised fetus at 14-28 weeks that can be feasibly implemented in a wide variety of settings.