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Vaginal suppositories containing the 16-16 dimethyl trans delta 2 PGE1 methyl ester (ONO 802) were used for the induction of abortion in early pregnancy, and this non-surgical technique was compared with suction termination performed under local anaesthesia or general anaesthesia. Ninety patients were recruited to the study and divided equally between the three groups. Complete abortion was induced in 87 per cent of the patients treated with ONO 802 suppositories, which compared favourably with 87 and 100 per cent for the patients who had suction terminations under local anaesthesia and general anaesthesia respectively. The vaginal suppositories induced uterine bleeding in all patients and the mean time of onset of lower abdominal pain was 2 hours 55 minutes. The average numbers of episodes of vomiting and diarrhoea for patients given ONO 802 suppositories were 0.9 and 0.7 respectively. Menstrual blood loss was measured objectively in all groups and no significant differences between the three methods could be found. In selected cases, ONO 802 vaginal suppositories would seem to be safe and reasonably effective for the termination of early pregnancy.
Smith et al. (Fri,) studied this question.