RU-486 Mifepristone Mifeprex Medical Abortion Pill
Medical abortion is defined as the termination of a pregnancy under 20 weeks that is achieved without surgical means. With the medical abortion pill, the administration of a medication is used to achieve expulsion of the pregnancy. In actual practice, medical abortion pill with ru-486, mifeprex, mifepristone is only available until 7 weeks of pregnancy gestation.
The abortion pill consists of two medications: mifepristone (RU-486), and misoprostol (cytotec). The RU486 is first administered orally, followed by hours or a day later with cytotec.
RU-486, mifeprex, is an anti-progesterone agent, which competes with progesterone. The pill blocks the normal action of progesterone, which in early pregnancy helps maintain the placenta. RU486 thereby causes termination of the pregnancy by medical abortion. Cytotec is a prostaglandin, which causes uterine cramping, and softens and opens the cervix (the opening of the uterus). It therefore facilitates expulsion of the pregnancy. The medical abortion is therefore completed this way.
The medical abortion pill, ru-486, mifeprex is only effective up to 49 days of pregnancy, measured from the last menstrual period, or 35 days from conception. Therefore, its effectiveness is limited to the early part of pregnancy. However, some have attempted the use of the medical abortion pill up until 9 weeks of pregnancy, or 63 days from the last menstrual period. Although medical abortion can be attempted until 9 weeks of pregnancy, it is less likely to work and more likely to cause incomplete passage and heavy bleeding.
The medical abortion pill has some disadvantages, which include the following:
- RU486 is only effective in early pregnancy.
- Usually multiple trips are required to achieve pregnancy termination.
- RU486 is unpredictable in its onset. It may take hours, days, or sometimes weeks to work.
- RU486 does not always work, which means that a surgical abortion (dilation and curettage) will need to be performed.
- RU486 and cytotec may cause an incomplete abortion, meaning that only part of the pregnancy is expelled, while some tissue still remains behind. This is problematic, because it causes continuous bleeding, which must then be resolved by having a surgical abortion (D and C). If it happens after-hours, it also means a trip to the emergency room.
- There have been some reported cases of sepsis and death from the abortion pill RU486.
The biggest disadvantage of the medical abortion pill mifeprex ru-486 is that it is unpredictable in its effectiveness. It may not work at all, or work incompletely and cause heavy bleeding.
Although the abortion pill offers a higher convenience for the patient, it also offers certain risks. The decision of whether to use medical abortion versus surgical abortion is one that needs to be individually reviewed by the patient and physician.
We are located in Santa Ana, but we serve patients that visit us from all of Southern California, including Orange County, San Bernardino, San Diego, Riverside, Temecula, and Los Angeles. We have patients from the following cities: