Comparative study of midtrimester termination of pregnancy using hypertonic saline, ethacridine lactate, prostaglandin analogue and iodine-saline.

The study consisted of terminations of 200 cases of second trimester pregnancies ranging from 14 weeks to 20 weeks. Out of these 200 cases, in 50 cases intra-amniotic instillation of 20% hypertonic saline (200 ml) was done after withdrawing 35-200 ml of amniotic fluid. Ethacridine lactate was instilled in 50 cases extra-amniotically. Prostaglandin F2 alpha was injected intramuscularly at regular intervals in 50 cases. Fifty cases of pregnancies were terminated with extra-amniotic instillation of 5% povidone-iodine solution mixed with normal saline. Comparison was made among all the methods regarding instillation-abortion interval, completeness of abortion, failure of the procedure and postoperative complications. Solution of 5% povidone-iodine in normal saline was found to be comparable in all aspects to other methods and above all a much cheaper alternative for poor patients. Success rate was highest with iodine-saline solution (100%) followed by ethacridine lactate (98%), hypertonic saline (96%) and lowest with prostaglandin F2 alpha (90%).