Keywords
Misoprostol, mid-trimester termination, Foley catheter
Misoprostol, mid-trimester termination, Foley catheter
We would like to thank the reviewers for the time they spent reviewing our manuscript and the valuable comments they have made. We have revised the manuscript based on many of their suggestions but would like to respond to remaining few comments as follows:
1. We think that reporting the actual P value would confuse the reader with too many numbers and we feel that a P value mentioned to be either higher or lower than 0.05 would be simple and easier to illustrate a significant level. At higher levels of significance, we considered a cutoff point for p value of 0.01.
2. We think that it is a positive sign that the age and gestational age are close between the groups. If the difference is wide or statistically significant, it might have provided a bias to the results of the study.
3. Throughout this study we have not considered multiple testing. As shown in the methodology section, we only used the student t test, chi square test, or the Fisher’s exact test when the contingency table contains values less than 6.
We would like to thank the reviewers for the time they spent reviewing our manuscript and the valuable comments they have made. We have revised the manuscript based on many of their suggestions but would like to respond to remaining few comments as follows:
1. We think that reporting the actual P value would confuse the reader with too many numbers and we feel that a P value mentioned to be either higher or lower than 0.05 would be simple and easier to illustrate a significant level. At higher levels of significance, we considered a cutoff point for p value of 0.01.
2. We think that it is a positive sign that the age and gestational age are close between the groups. If the difference is wide or statistically significant, it might have provided a bias to the results of the study.
3. Throughout this study we have not considered multiple testing. As shown in the methodology section, we only used the student t test, chi square test, or the Fisher’s exact test when the contingency table contains values less than 6.
To read any peer review reports and author responses for this article, follow the "read" links in the Open Peer Review table.
Please note that the refereeing status of this article was changed from “indexed” to “[v1; ref status: approved 1, approved with reservations 1]”.
When this article was first published, F1000Research was still in its beta phase; during this period articles that received any two of “Approved” or “Approved with Reservations” statuses from the reviewers were labelled as “indexed”. When the journal was formally launched in January 2013, the requirements for indexing were tightened, and only articles that are given either two “Approved” or one “Approved” plus two “Approved with Reservations” statuses by the reviewers are labelled “indexed”. The new criteria for “indexing” can still be met in the future if a new revised version receives the necessary approval status from the reviewers.
The universal prenatal screening programs have lead to an increase in the diagnosis of congenital malformations with subsequent gradual increase in second trimester termination of pregnancy (TOP)1. This represents 10–15% of total abortions performed worldwide2.
Termination in the second trimester is more risky than during the first trimester3 and therefore; the pharmacologic management seems to be an appealing alternative to surgical evacuation. Misoprostol has been widely used in different dosages and routes for second-trimester pregnancy terminations. Doses ranging from 200 to 800 µg at intervals ranging from 3 to 12 hours have been described4–8. High doses at short intervals have been linked to higher percentage of side effects.
Several studies have described the Foley’s catheter as an effective method in ripening the cervix. Obed and Adewole (1994)9 showed that it increased the Bishop’s score in women with unripe cervices. Sciscione et al.10 stated that the Foley’s catheter appears to be superior to prostaglandins for pre-induction cervical ripening. Its use is common in poor countries because it is safe, inexpensive and have low incidence of contractile abnormalities11.
This study was designed to investigate whether the insertion of a weighted fluid filled trans-cervical Foley’s catheter would further improve the effectiveness of 400 µg vaginal misoprostol in terminating mid trimester pregnancies.
This study was carried out at the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Menofyia University Hospital, Egypt. Women were recruited and enrolled in the study from July 2011 till the end of April 2012. The institutional review board approved the protocol of the study and an informed consent was obtained from all participants. (see Supplementary Material).
Women enrolled were primigravidae with a singleton pregnancy at a gestational age ranging between 13–23 weeks with a fetal anomaly that is incompatible with life or a fetal demise within one week. We chose to enroll just primigravidae, because we believe that the induction to expulsion time should be considered separately for multiparous and nulliparous women. Furthermore, for multiparas, if a woman had 10 previous vaginal deliveries, she cannot be compared to a woman who had only one vaginal delivery even though both are considered as multipara. A separate analysis would be needed for primiparous women, and both low order and high order multiparous women. Gestational age was calculated from the date of the first day of last menstrual period and confirmed by a vaginal ultrasound scan. Women with any of the following were excluded from the study: 1) Previous uterine scar; 2) Contraindication to misoprostol; 3) Low lying placenta; 4) Operation on the cervix; 5) Chorioamnionitis.
In our institution, women with a planned a mid-trimester termination of pregnancy can have a varied and unpredictable response to the method of termination selected. The population of patients at the hospital we conducted the study is mainly illiterate. So, if a patient is assigned to a specific group, you must then to ask for that individual to sign a consent form. For the most, the perception is that their signature provides permission to perform a harmful procedure or a procedure with an unknown outcome. This apprehension leads to asking members of their family who are present what to do, and more often than not they change their mind about the specific line of management offered to them. Due to this uncertainty we were unable to ensure that the participants would accept the method they would receive under randomized conditions. Our expectation was that we would probably have too many withdrawals, and so we refrained from randomizing the participants to maintain our chosen cohort for the completion of the study. We assumed that a significant difference in the induction to abortion interval between both groups would be 3 hours. With an alpha of 0.05, 80% power and a 2 sided significance level of 0.05, we predicted a sample size of 50 women would be needed. Initially we planned to recruit 50 women divided equally between two groups. However, after starting enrollment, we were confronted with the fact that many women preferred to be enrolled in the combined group rather than the misoprostol only group. When patient number 50 was enrolled, there were 20 women assigned to group I and 30 women to group II.
All participants were subjected to complete history taking and thorough clinical examination. Induction of abortion was carried out in group I by inserting two tablets; each contains 200 microgram misoprostol (Segma pharmaceuticals, Egypt), in the posterior vaginal fornix every four hours. In group II, with the patient in the lithotomy position, the cervix was visualized using a Cusco’s speculum and then sterilized with povidone iodine. The anterior lip of the cervix was grasped with a ring forceps and another ring forceps was then used to push the catheter through the cervix under direct visualization. The balloon was then inflated with 30 ml saline and the catheter was pulled back snugly against the internal os and taped to the inner aspect of thigh. A bag filled with saline was applied to the distal end of the catheter to provide moderate traction. Different filling volumes were used at different gestational ages. We used 250 ml. at 13–17 weeks, 300 ml. with ages at 18–20 weeks and 500 ml at gestational ages more than 20 weeks. The filled bag was approximately equivalent to 250, 300 and 500 grams in weight respectively. A 400 ug misoprostol vaginal dose “two tablets” was then inserted in the posterior vaginal fornix/4 hours as in group I. A maximum of 4 misoprostol doses was used in both groups. Each patient received 1 gram Ampicillin/6 hours as a prophylactic antibiotic. As soon as the catheter was expelled, re-assessment of the dilatation and effacement of the cervix was carried out. Oxytocin infusion was started 4 hours after the last dose of misoprostol in both groups according to the standard protocol in our department.
The patient was assessed every 4 hours for vital signs, cervical dilatation, expulsion of fetus and occurrence of complications such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and infection. All patients received intravenous oxytocin 20 IU after expulsion of the fetus to help placental separation and delivery. Retained placenta was considered if no manifestations for placental separation appeared 30 minutes after fetal expulsion. The patient was anesthetized and manual separation of the placenta was carried out. Surgical evacuation was performed if any remnant of conception such as missed placental lobe or piece of membranes was suspected to be retained inside the uterus.
After placental expulsion, mothers were observed for the presence of uterine atony and post abortive bleeding. This was assessed by counting the number and change in the weight of the sanitary pads used by the patient. Bleeding was considered average if less than 200 cc and excessive if more than 200 cc.
The measured primary outcome parameter was the induction to abortion interval. Secondary parameters were: 1) Occurrence of side effects; 2) Need for manual separation of the placenta; 3) The need for surgical evacuation; and 4) Occurrence of post-abortive bleeding.
For the purpose of statistical analysis, women enrolled were categorized into 3 groups according to gestational age (Table 1). Early mid trimester group between 13 to 17 weeks, mid mid-trimester group 18–20 weeks and late mid trimester group 21 to 23 weeks.
Gestational age | Misoprostol group (n=20) | Combined group (n=30) | P |
---|---|---|---|
13–17 weeks | 7 (35%) | 11 (36.7%) | >0.05 |
18–20 weeks | 7 (35%) | 9 (30%) | >0.05 |
21–23 weeks | 6 (30%) | 10 (33.3%) | >0.05 |
Results were tabulated and analyzed on an IBM personal computer using Epi Info, version 6, a word-processing database and statistics program. Descriptive statistics was expressed as mean and standard deviation. The student t test was used to evaluate independent variables that are normally distributed. The Chi square test was used to compare 2 rates unless the number in the contingency table was < 6 where Fisher’s exact test was used. A significant statistical level was considered if P was < 0.05.
The groups were equal at the baseline characteristics. Age of mothers was not significantly different between both groups (27.93 ± 6.48 years in group I versus 27.19 ± 5.23 years in group II; P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in gestational age at enrollment (18.0 ± 2.41 weeks in group I versus 17.9 ± 2.88 weeks in group II; P > 0.05). We subdivided participants into 3 groups according to gestational age and we had a separate statistical analysis for each group. Women enrolled were categorized into 3 groups as shown in Table 1.
Table 3 shows that the secondary outcome parameters are not statistically different between both groups. Table 4 reports the side effects in both groups.
This study showed that the combination of Foley’s catheter and misoprostol resulted in a significantly shorter induction to abortion interval compared to misoprostol alone. Because we used similar misoprostol dose in both groups, this decrease in duration was attributed to the use of weighted Foley’s catheter with moderate traction applied over its distal end. Early studies comparing the Foley catheter with PGE2 tablets found no difference in the termination time between both methods12,13. No traction was applied in either of these studies. Bani-Irshaid et al.14 compared the efficacy and safety of Foley catheter (with and without traction) and prostaglandin E2 vaginal tablets in terminating second and early third trimester pregnancies in 258 women. They concluded that the efficacy of the Foley’s catheter can be enhanced with the use of traction to give similar results to prostaglandin E2. No studies have compared the use of prostaglandin E1 vaginal tablets alone versus its combined use with Foley’s catheter in terminating mid trimester gestations. The catheter exerts its effect by disrupting the integrity of amnion–chorion and myometrium in addition to cervical collagen increasing prostaglandin and cytokines release rendering the uterus susceptible15–17.
The induction to delivery interval increased with increasing gestational age in both groups. We also had rates of fetal expulsion of 100% in both groups at a gestational age between 13–17 weeks which decreased with advancement of gestational age. This is in agreement with other investigators’ findings. Gómez et al. in 200918 found that the mean induction-to-abortion interval increases by 4 hours after 20 weeks GA. Ashok. et al., 200319 in another study on mid-trimester medical termination of pregnancy concluded that the induction to abortion interval was significantly longer in the higher gestational age pregnancies. Similar finding were reported by Dilbaz et al.20 in pregnancies between 13–20 weeks. We used a misoprostol dose of 400 microgram administered every 4 hours. Doses of 600 and 800 µg have shown comparable successful abortion rates but were associated with high rates of side effects21,22. Wong and colleagues compared the efficacy and side effects of 400 microgram misoprostol administered every 3 and every 6 hours. They concluded that the three-hour regime was more effective in terms of a significantly shorter drug administration to abortion interval on the expense of more side effects. We had no significant difference in the incidence of side effects between both groups. Side effects are less common with the vaginal route compared to other routes of administration23.
In the present study, there was no significant difference in the need for post abortive manual separation of the placenta. Surgical evacuation should only be considered if there is clinical evidence that the abortion is incomplete24. In the current study an incidence of 20% was reported in the misoprostol group while only 10% required surgical evacuation in the combined group. Ashok et al. 200319 studied midtrimester medical termination of pregnancy using misoprostol and concluded that surgical evacuation of the uterus under general anesthesia was required to complete the abortion in 8.1% of women. In 2005 report from the Scottish group estimated the rate of surgical evacuation as low as 2.5%25. The high incidence of surgical evacuation in this study may reflect the inadequate experience dealing with second trimester abortions. Cases of induced abortion in our society are few because they are considered illegal unless performed to save a maternal life. Our findings showed that the majority of cases who required surgical evacuation in both groups were between 13–17 weeks (5/7). This is in agreement with the results of other investigators26. It is probably wise to inform women undergoing pregnancy termination early in the second trimester of possible higher chance of incomplete abortion. There was no statistically significant difference in the amount of blood loss between both groups.
To conclude, the use of a weighted trans-cervical Foley’s catheter filled with 30 ml saline improve the effectiveness of 400 µg vaginal misoprostol in terminating mid trimester pregnancies as reflected by a shorter induction to delivery interval with no significant increase in the incidence of side effects.
AS, conceived the study and designed it, HS Enrolled participants and collected the scientific material, MK shared the design of the study and wrote the manuscript, ES collected scientific material and performed the statistical analysis and DM enrolled participants.
Second trimester or mid-trimester is a period ranging from 14th to 28th weeks of gestation. It is subdivided into an early period between 14th and 20th weeks and a late period between 20th and 28th weeks27.
There is gradual increase in second trimester terminations of pregnancies because of the availability of prenatal screening programs allowing the diagnosis of congenitally malformed fetuses1.
Cervical ripening before surgical termination is an effective method for reducing the complications associated with suction curettage. It is a routine before second-trimester dilation and evacuation28. Misoprostol, a prostaglandin E1 analogue, is commonly used for this purpose29. It is also useful for elective medical abortion and evacuation of the uterus in cases of emberyonic or fetal death28. The vaginal route of administration is favored compared to other methods in clinical routine owing to its high clinical efficacy and lack of gastrointestinal side effects30.
Several studies have described that the Foley’s catheter as an effective method in ripening the cervix. Obed and Adewole9 showed that it increased the Bishop’s score in women with unripe cervices in a way comparable to that of prostaglandins.
This study was designed to investigate whether the insertion of a weighted fluid filled trans-cervical Foley’s catheter would improve the effectiveness of 400 µg vaginal misoprostol in terminating mid trimester pregnancies.
This comparative study will be carried out at the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Menofyia University Hospitals. Participants will be women with an indication for second trimester termination. Eligible women will be those with BMI ranging between 20–30 with singleton pregnancies at a gestational age between 14–23 weeks. Pregnancies sonographically diagnosed with a fetal anomaly incompatible with life or a fetal demise within one week will be enrolled.
The procedure will be explained to all women and an informed consent will be obtained from all participants. All women enrolled will have the following routine work up:
1. Complete history taking.
2. Thorough clinical examination with special emphasis on:-
Pulse, blood pressure and temperature.
Nausea (mild, moderate and severe).
Vomiting (mild, moderate and severe).
Abdominal pain (mild: less or equal to menstrual cramps, moderate: slightly stronger than menstrual cramps & severe: double strength of menstrual cramps). Women with mild pain will receive no analgesia while those with moderate pain will receive diclofenac sodium & women with severe pain will receive pethidine.
Cervical dilatation and consistency by vaginal digital examination (Firm or Soft).
Presence or absence of vaginal bleeding.
Watery vaginal discharge.
3. Laboratory investigations:
Complete blood picture.
Prothrombin time, bleeding time, clotting time and INR.
Liver enzymes.
Kidney function.
Random blood sugar.
4. Pelvic ultrasound to detect:
Number of gestations, viability and gestational age.
Women with any of the following will be excluded from the study:
1. Previous uterine surgery.
2. Contra-indication to misoprostol. E.g. bronchial asthma and coronary heart disease.
3. Law lying placenta.
4. Operation on the cervix.
5. Number of gestations, viability and gestational age.
Fifty women will be recruited and will be divided into 2 equal groups. In group A, termination will be induced by inserting 400 micrograms vaginal misoprostol (2 misotac tablets-sigma pharmaceuticals) every four hours while in group B. termination will be induced by inserting a 16 F Foley’s catheter trans-cervically then inflating its balloon by (30 ml–50 ml) saline. A bag filled with saline will be applied to the distal end of the catheter to provide moderate traction. Different volumes will be used at different gestational ages; 250 ml. at 13–17 weeks, 300 ml. with ages at 18–20 weeks and 500 ml at gestational ages more than 20 weeks. The filled bag is approximately equivalent to 250, 300 and 500 grams in weight respectively. The same dose of misoprostol as in group A (400 ug/4 hours) will be used as well.
The outcome parameters that will be measured in this study are:-
1. Induction to expulsion interval.
2. Maternal side effects (nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, rupture of membranes, sepsis, manual separation of the placenta, surgical evacuation and hemorrhage). The amount of vaginal bleeding will be assessed by counting the number and change in the weight of the pads changed by the patient from the start of induction till complete expulsion has occurred. Hemorrhage will be considered as average if less than 200 cc and excessive if more than 200 cc.
Participants will be assessed every 4 hours for vital signs, cervical dilatation, expulsion of fetus and occurrence of complications.
The steps of the procedure in the Foley’s catheter group:
1. Speculum insertion and exposure to the cervix.
2. Steralization with povidine iodine.
3. Holding the anterior lip of the cervix with ring forceps.
4. Foley’s catheter will be inserted till it passed the internal os (about 5 cm of the catheter was passed through the cervical canal).
5. Inflation of the balloon by 30 ml saline for women at 14–18 weeks and by 50 ml for 19–23 weeks.
6. The ring forceps and the speculum will be removed.
7. 400 ug misoprostol wetted with saline will be inserted in the posterior vaginal fornix.
All patients will receive 20 mIU intravenous oxytocin after expulsion of the fetus. If the placenta does not separate in 30 minutes, the patient will be anaesthetized and undergo manual separation of the placenta or surgical evacuation.
All women will be observed for the occurrence of side effects during the procedure and for the first 12 hours after termination.
Results will then be tabulated and statistically analyzed. Results will then be compared to those of other investigators.
Views | Downloads | |
---|---|---|
F1000Research | - | - |
PubMed Central
Data from PMC are received and updated monthly.
|
- | - |
Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Alongside their report, reviewers assign a status to the article:
Invited Reviewers | |||
---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | |
Version 2 (update) 28 Nov 12 |
read | read | |
Version 1 25 Oct 12 |
read | read | read |
Provide sufficient details of any financial or non-financial competing interests to enable users to assess whether your comments might lead a reasonable person to question your impartiality. Consider the following examples, but note that this is not an exhaustive list:
Sign up for content alerts and receive a weekly or monthly email with all newly published articles
Already registered? Sign in
The email address should be the one you originally registered with F1000.
You registered with F1000 via Google, so we cannot reset your password.
To sign in, please click here.
If you still need help with your Google account password, please click here.
You registered with F1000 via Facebook, so we cannot reset your password.
To sign in, please click here.
If you still need help with your Facebook account password, please click here.
If your email address is registered with us, we will email you instructions to reset your password.
If you think you should have received this email but it has not arrived, please check your spam filters and/or contact for further assistance.
Comments on this article Comments (0)