The efficacy of Primrose oil with misoprostol in induction of second trimester miscarriage: Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

econd trimester abortions constitute 10–15% of all induced abortions worldwide but are responsible for two-thirds of major abortion-related complications. During the last decade, medical methods for second trimester induced abortion have been considerably improved and become safe and more accessible. Today, in most cases, safe and efficient medical abortion services can be offered or improved by minor changes in existing health care facilities (Choudhary et al., 2011). Misoprostol is a synthetic prostaglandin E1 analogue which was originally developed to prevent non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs related gastric ulcers. However, it has been used for various other indications in obstetrics and gynecology (Wu et al., 2017). Primrose is a herb from the Oenothera bennie’s family. The seeds of the herb contain two essential fatty acids: linoleic acid (LA) and Gamma linoleic acid (GLA) which facilitate the prostaglandin EI synthesis (Sergeant et al., 2016). The current study was conducted at Ain Shams University maternity hospital during the period from the 1st of January 2019 to the last of August 2019. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of evening primrose oil in shortening the duration of induction of miscarriage when added to misoprostol in women with 2nd trimester missed miscarriage.