Mifepristone combined with ethacridine lactate for the second-trimester pregnancy termination in women with placenta previa and/or prior cesarean deliveries

This study was aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the second-trimester medical abortions using mifepristone and ethacridine lactate in women with placenta previa and/or prior cesarean deliveries. The patients who underwent a second-trimester pregnancy termination from January 2009 to December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. The eligible patients were assigned to four groups based on placentation and cesarean history. The abortion interval (AI), blood loss, hospital stays, incidence of curettage, and transfusion were reviewed. Two women underwent cesarean sections for placenta increta. Finally, 443 patients were enrolled in this study, including 92 with placenta previa, 153 with prior cesarean deliveries, 36 with the both factors, and 236 with normal placentation and no cesarean delivery history. All the included cases had a successful vaginal delivery. There was no significant difference in AI, hospital stay, rate of hemorrhage, and transfusion among the four groups. Patients with prior cesarean section had higher blood loss than the normal group (P = 0.0017), as well as patients with both placenta previa and prior cesarean (P = 0.0018). However, there was no obvious blood loss in patients with placenta previa when compared with normal placetal patients (P = 0.23). No uterine rupture occurred in all patients. Mifepristone combined with ethacridine lactate is safe and effective for patients with low placentation or/and prior cesarean in the second-trimester pregnancy termination.