Misoprostol for treatment of incomplete abortion- providers practice in Dodoma region, central Tanzania

Abstract

Remnant products of conception in the uterine cavity following a  miscarriage or induced abortion presents a serious threat to a woman   because it increases the risk of infection or continued bleeding and therefore uterine evacuation in such cases is imperative. Surgical and  medical methods using drugs like misoprostol may be used for complete the evacuation of the remaining products of conception (POC).This study aimed to examine health care providers practice regarding the use of misoprostol for post abortion care in Dodoma region of Tanzania. This was a quantitative prospective cross-section study which was done in three districts of Dodoma region. It involved 126 health care providers from health facilities in the three districts. Information regarding use of  misoprostol in post abortion care (PAC) was collected using pretested self-administered questionnaire to 126 randomly selected health care providers. 28.6% of interviewed health care workers revealed that they were using misoprostol for post abortion care while they had no formal training regarding the use of the drug for this indication. Most of them (65%) got information from co-workers. A remarkable proportion of health care workers were using misoprostol though they lack relevant knowledge and guidelines for using the drug for PAC and the drug was yet to be approved by Ministry of Health and Social Welfare for this indication.

KEY WORDS Misoprostol, Incomplete abortion, Uterine evacuation, Post abortion care