Mifepristone

Mifepristone is also known as RU-486

" Pain control in medical abortion", E Wiebe, Int'l J Gynecology & Obstetrics 74:275-280,2001

A Canadian study of abortion procedures using methotrexate and misoprostol reported that the mean pain

Score was 6.2 on a scale from 1-10. Severe pain (scores of 9 or 10) was reported by 23.4% of the women. Women experiencing severe pain were more likely to have a lower maternal age, lower parity, higher anxiety and depression, and less satisfaction with the procedure. The authors reported that pain medication given before the onset of the procedure did not reduce the amount of severe pain.

Fatal Clostridium sordellii Infections after Medical Abortions N Engl J Med 2010; 363:1382-1383September 30, 2010

Clostridial toxic shock is a rare and largely fatal syndrome among reproductive-age women. Eight cases were reported after medical abortions using mifepristone and misoprostol between 2000 and 2009 bringing the risk of clostridial toxic shock to 0.58 per 100,000 medical abortions.

Mifepristone in South Australia Mulligan E, Messenger H. Australian Family Physician. MAY 2011.

The study found 3.3% of the women who used RU-486 in the first trimester of pregnancy reported to an emergency room compared with 2.2% who used a surgical method and •5.7% of the women who used RU-486 had to be re-admitted to hospitals compared with 0.4% of surgical abortion patients.

Additional information

Abortion Pill Reversal can be successful

Article regarding a medical protocol for women who change their minds to stop the RU-486 induced abortion.

Psychological distress symptoms in women undergoing medical vs. surgical termination of pregnancy. Lowenstein L, Deutcsh M, Gruberg R, Solt I, Yagil Y, Nevo O, et al. (2006), General Hospital Psychiatry, 28(1):43–47.

Compared to women choosing surgical abortion, those choosing chemical abortion had higher obsessive-compulsive symptoms, higher levels of guilt, higher interpersonal sensitivity scores, more paranoid ideation, and more general psychiatric symptoms.

A comparison of medical and surgical methods of termination of pregnancy: Choice, psychological consequences, and satisfaction with care. Slade, P., Heke, S., Fletcher, J., & Stewart, P. (1998). British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 105, 1288-1295.

Those who had a medical abortion rated it as more stressful and experienced more disruption in their lives. “One of the main differences between these two methods of termination is the consciousness and participation of the patient in the medical procedure in a process that involves blood, pain, and death.”

Patient preference in a randomized study comparing medical and surgical abortion at 10-13 weeks gestation. Ashok P.W., Hamoda, H., Flett, G. M. M., Kidd, A., Fitzmaurice, A., Templeton, A. (2005). Contraception, 71, 143-148.

  :46.8% of women undergoing a medical abortion experienced a significant decline in self-esteem 2-3 weeks following the abortion. This was a higher percentage than among those who had a surgical abortion (39.5%). 

Comparing medical versus surgical termination of pregnancy at 13-20 weeks of gestation: a randomized controlled trial, Kelly, T., Suddes, J., Howel, D., Hewison, J., & Robson, S. (2010). BJOG, 117, 1512-20.

Women who had chemical abortions had higher PTSD intrusion scores, such as nightmares, than women who had surgical abortions