Second Trimester Pregnancy Termination using 16,16-Dimethyl-trans-delta 2 Prostaglandin E1 Methyl Ester

KS Wong, AYK Wong, LCH Tang
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Kwong Wah Hospital, 25 Waterloo Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong

A retrospective study of 72 second trimester pregnancy terminations using 16,16-dimethyl-trans-delta 2 prostaglandin E1 methyl ester (Gemeprost, CervagemTM) vaginal pessary is reported. The success rate with this method of induced abortion was 93%. The mean induction-abortion interval was 12.6 hours. Minor side-effects such as fever, vomiting and diarrhoea occurred in 46%, 10% and 18% of patients respectively. Major complications were uncommon. Only one patient had blood loss of more than 500 mls and one patient had genital tract trauma. It is our experience that gemeprost is a safe and efficient method for second trimester termination.

Hong Kong Med J 1996;2:19-24

Key words: Abortion, second trimester pregnancy, prostaglandin