Green J, Borgatta L, Sia M et al.
Boston University School of Medicine,Boston, MA, USA.
Contraception 2007;76:310–3.
Editor’s note: Surgical dilatation and evacuation and medical therapeutic agents are the two options available for second-trimester terminations. Misoprostol is increasingly accepted as an alternative to surgery since it is well-tolerated; however, retained placenta is an established complication of second-trimester medical terminations. As a consequence, operative procedures to remove an undelivered placenta 30–120 min after fetal delivery are generally recommended, resulting in reported surgical intervention rates of up to 50%. Fetal demise appears to be associated with shorter expulsion times. In view of this, the authors carried out a study to assess the efficacy of a regimen involving fetocide followed by misoprostol induction.