Comparing Buccal and Vaginal Misoprostol in Management of Early Pregnancy Loss: a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Randomization:

Women who present to University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Medical Offices South clinic for evaluation and management of missed abortion will all be sent to the lab prior to the clinic visit for a type and screen and hemogram to determine blood type and hemoglobin level as is the current standard of care. Each woman will then be screened by a physician. The physician will notify a co-investigator of eligible patients who are interested in participating in the study. The co-investigator will consent the patient for the study. Once the written consent is obtained, patient will be asked to fill out an intake survey to obtain demographic information. Participants will be randomized into either the vaginal or buccal misoprostol group with a block size of four. Assignments will be concealed in sequentially numbered sealed opaque envelope. The envelope will be opened by the co-investigator who will reveal the route of misoprostol to the patient and review the written instructions on how to take the medication appropriately. Given the different routes of administration, neither the patient nor the provider will be blinded. Given that one of the secondary outcomes of interest was patient satisfaction based on the different route of administration, decision was made to not use placebo pills which could have been used to do a double-blinded study.

Intervention:

Dose of Misoprostol for both treatment groups: 800 micrograms administered as four tablets of 200 micrograms.

Currently, the standard of care is to prescribe vaginal misoprostol 800 mcg for women with an early pregnancy failure desiring medical management. The only "intervention" in this study is to change the route of administration from vaginal to buccal for the women randomized to this group. The dose of misoprostol, follow up plan (including ultrasound) and prescription for pain medications (described below) is unchanged from the current standard of care. Participants randomized to the vaginal misoprostol group will be instructed to insert four misoprostol tablets (total of 800 micrograms) deeply into the vagina with their fingers. Participants randomized to the buccal misoprostol group will be instructed to place two tablets of misoprostol between their gum and cheek on each side (total 800 micrograms), then swish and swallow the remnants after 30 minutes. If the patient is Rh negative, the patient will be given a dose of rhogam 300 mcg at the initial visit which is the current standard of care.