Clinical Pharmacology & Biopharmaceutics
Open Access

Abstract

Objectives: To conduct a drug-use evaluation by investigating indications, appropriateness of dosing, and clinical outcome of misoprostol-only regimen when used for medical evacuation of spontaneous abortion. Method: A retrospective descriptive drug-use evaluation was conducted on women with spontaneous abortion who received misoprostol for medical evacuation during August 2013. The current practice at Women’s Hospital was compared with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation. Patients were stratified into three groups based on weeks of amenorrhea. Results: One-hundred and seven patients received misoprostol during August 2013. Thirty-three patients (31%) were included. In these patients, the main indication for using misoprostol was missed abortion (54.5%). In the group of ≤9 weeks, 80% of them received an initial dose of 800 mcg, 80% received frequency within WHO recommendation, and most of them had surgical evacuation (80%). In the group of 10 to 12 weeks, more than 80% received an initial dose of 800 mcg, 6% received frequency as WHO recommendation, and more than 75% had successful medical evacuation. In the group of 13 to 22 weeks, more than 80% of them received an initial dose of 400 mcg, more than 80% received frequency within WHO recommendation, and 54% of them had successful medical evacuation. Overall, more than 70% of patients received ≤3 total doses of misoprostol and more than 60% had successful medical evacuation as a clinical outcome. Conclusions: Despite that the current practice at Women’s Hospital was not always in accordance with WHO recommendation; successful medical evacuation was achieved in most patients.

Biography

Samah ElSalem has completed her BSc Pharm (2011) and her PharmD (2012) from the College of Pharmacy, Qatar University. Since 2012, she has been working as a Clinical Pharmacist in Women’s Hospital, Doha, Qatar. She has been involved in several researches in the field of clinical pharmacy and has published some of her work in peer-reviewed journals.

Email: samah.elsalem@gmail.com