Comparison of mifepristone plus misoprostol with misoprostol alone for first trimester medical abortion: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

ObjectiveTo compare mifepristone plus a misoprostol-combined regimen with misoprostol alone in the medical abortion of first trimester pregnancy.MethodsAn internet-based search of available literature was performed using text words contained in titles and abstracts. PubMed/Medline, Cochrane CENTRAL, EMBASE, and Google scholar were used to locate English-based articles published until December 2021. Studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected, appraised, and assessed for methodological quality. The included studies were pooled for meta-analysis, and the results were presented in risk ratio at a 95% confidence interval.FindingsNine studies comprising 2,052 participants (1,035 intervention and 1,017 controls) were considered. Primary endpoints were complete expulsion, incomplete expulsion, missed abortion, and ongoing pregnancy. The intervention was found to more likely induce complete expulsion irrespective of gestational age (RR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.14–1.25). The administration of misoprostol 800 mcg after 24 h of mifepristone pre-treatment in the intervention group more likely induced complete expulsion (RR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.17–1.30) than after 48 h. The intervention group was also more likely to experience complete expulsion when misoprostol was used either vaginally (RR: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.09–1.17) or buccally (RR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.16–1.30). The intervention was more effective in the subgroup with a negative foetal heartbeat at reducing incomplete abortion (RR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.26–0.78) compared with the control group. The intervention more likely reduced both missed abortion (RR: 0.21; 95% CI: 0.08–0.91) and ongoing pregnancy (RR: 0.12; 95% CI: 0.05–0.26). Fever was less likely to be reported (RR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.12–0.89), whereas the subjective experience of bleeding was more likely to be encountered (RR: 1.31; 95% CI: 1.13–1.53) by the intervention group.ConclusionThe review strengthened the theory that a combined mifepristone and misoprostol regimen can be an effective medical management for inducing abortions during first trimester pregnancy in all contexts. Specifically, there is a high-level certainty of evidence on complete expulsion during the early stage and its ability to reduce both missed and ongoing pregnancies.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42019134213, identifier CRD42019134213.

Comparison of misoprostol and manual vacuum aspiration in treating first-trimester incomplete miscarriage: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…Some experts launched studies to evaluate possible combination with misoprostol and other drugs to induce complete uterine evacuation. Shimels et al conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the relative e ciency in treating incomplete miscarriage by misoprostol plus mifepristone or by misoprostol alone, which demonstrated that combination of misoprostol and mifepristone achieved better outcomes [21] . Another study focused on the relative e cacy of misoprostol in treating second trimester abortion in terms of regimens.…”

Failure Rate of Medical Treatment for Miscarriage Correlated with the Difference between Gestational Age According to Last Menstrual Period and Gestational Size Calculated via Ultrasound

“…In recent years, a new treatment arose, the combination of Mifepristone-Misoprostol regime, which was shown to be superior to the Misoprostol only regime [17].…”