The effect of sublingual misoprostol versus intravenous oxytocin in reducing bleeding after caesarean section

Abstract

In this study, 100 singleton pregnant women underwent a caesarean delivery under general anaesthesia and were studied in terms of postpartum bleeding using oxytocin or misoprostol. Patients were randomly divided into two equal groups. One group received two tabs of misoprostol 200 microg sublingually and the second group took intravenous infusion of 20 units of oxytocin at the rate of 10 cc/min immediately after delivery until full contraction of the uterine. The amount of blood loss was lower in misoprostol group comparing with oxytocin group (608.91 ml vs 673.9 ml) (p = 0.048) and this difference was statistically significant. The need to give additional oxytocin therapy in oxytocin group (36%) was significantly higher than misoprostol group (14%) (p = 0.032). It seems that the efficacy of sublingual misoprostol is equivalent to that of low dose intravenous oxytocin in reducing postpartum haemorrhage at caesarean section. Misoprostol has some other advantages like long shelf -life, stability at room temperature and oral use.

RETRACTED: Impact of preoperative rectal misoprostol on blood loss during and after elective cesarean delivery

“…Acharya et al [21] compared the effects of 400 μg of oral misoprostol with those of 10 IU of oxytocin; intra-operative blood loss was lower with misoprostol but with increased postoperative shivering. Studies of sublingual misoprostol reported similar results [22,23].…”

Sublingual Misoprostol to Reduce Blood Loss at Cesarean Delivery

“…In the present study, 400 mcg by sublingual route appears to be promising. Two recent trials have confirmed efficacy of sublingual misoprostol in reducing blood loss at cesarean delivery [10,18].…”

Sublingual misoprostol versus intramuscular oxytocin for prevention of postpartum hemorrhage in low-risk women

“…Sublingual administration of misoprostol has been found to be beneficial in preventing PPH after cesarean delivery [14,15]. A few studies have evaluated efficacy of sublingual misoprostol for prophylaxis of PPH in vaginal deliveries [16][17][18][19][20][21][22]; however, none of them compared the efficacy of this treatment with that of 10 units of intramuscular oxytocin, which is the standard recommended by the WHO [2].…”