Role of progesterone in the management of threatened miscarriage

Objective: to find out the efficacy of progesterone in the management of threatened miscarriage. study design: a quasi experimental study. duration & settings of study: the study was conducted in the department of obstetrics & gynaecology,bahawal victoria hospital,bahawalpur from 01-1-2010 to 31-12-2010. materials & methods: a total of 60 patients admitted with threatened miscarriage at gestational age 5-14 weeks having viable pregnancy were studied. the diagnosis was made on history,examination and viability was confirmed on ultrasonography. patients were divided into two groups; a and b. group-a was given progesterone & group-b was given no treatment,only the bed rest was advised to patients of group b .it was observed whether the vaginal bleeding stopped,abdominal discomfort/pain settled and pregnancy continued to second trimester or not. results: basic parameters such as age,bmi,gravidity and period of gestation at the start of treatment did not differ between the two groups. vaginal bleeding settled in group-a in 16 (53.33%) and in group-b 12(40%) patients. abdominal pain / discomfort settled in group-a 15(50%) of the patients and in group b 12(40%). the most important variable was persistence of pregnancy up to 2nd trimester. group-a showed persistence of pregnancy up to 2nd trimester in 16(53.3%) and in group-b 11(36.7%). conclusion: the use of progesterone in the management of threatened miscarriage improves the outcome to some extent but not significantly.