Local application of prostaglandin E2 in gel. A new technique to ripen the cervix during pregnancy.

The methods used to date to ripen the unfavorable cervix during pregnancy have considerable disadvantages, chiefly from the practical point of view. Intracervical application of a small dose (0.5 mg) of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in viscous gel is a safe, easily performed and effective method to ripen the cervix in both early and late pregnancy. A new starch-based gel seems to have solved the pharmaceutical problems associated with gel preparations used hitherto. The histological and biochemical changes induced by local application of PGE2 are similar to those occurring spontaneously during late pregnancy.