ABSTRACT
Early pregnancy failure is a common pregnancy complication. This article reviews the
efficacy of medical management of early pregnancy failure. Nonsurgical treatments,
including expectant and medical management, are reasonable alternatives to surgical
management depending on the clinical situation and the patient's requests. Possible
regimens in medical management of early pregnancy failure include misoprostol alone
or mifepristone in conjunction with misoprostol. However, many studies of medical
management may underestimate success rates due to inconsistent inclusion criteria,
different dosing regimens, and varying definitions of failed treatment. Clinicians
need to understand the range of efficacy of these regimens to provide appropriate
counseling to patients.
KEYWORDS
Early pregnancy failure - miscarriage - missed abortion - misoprostol - mifepristone
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Beatrice A ChenM.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences,
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Magee-Womens Hospital, 300 Halket Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
eMail: chenba@upmc.edu