Termination of second-trimester pregnancy by laminaria and intramuscular injections of 15-methyl PGF2 alpha or 16-phenoxy-omega-17,18,19, 20-tetranor PGE2 methyl sulfonylamide. A randomized study.

The present study included 120 second-trimester patients admitted to the hospital for termination of pregnancy. In all patients, one medium-size laminaria tent was introduced into the cervical canal. The laminaria was withdrawn 12 hours later and the patients randomly allocated to either i.m. injection of 15-methyl PGF2 alpha, 0.25 mg every second hour, or 16-phenoxy-omega-17,18,19,20-tetranor PGE2 methyl sulfonyl-amide, 0.5 mg every fourth hour. Both treatment schedules were equally effective. All patients but 2 (98.3%), one in each group, aborted within 24 hours of prostaglandin treatment. Both methods seem far more effective than other methods at present in use for termination of second-trimester pregnancy. With the E analogue, the frequency of gastro-intestinal side effects was significantly lower than with the F analogue and not more common than following hypertonic saline. The use of laminaria tent was normally uneventful and seemed to reduce the risk of cervical laceration significantly.