Abstract

Introduction: Postpartum hemorrhage is an important cause of mortality and morbidity in pregnant women. There are various ways to control bleeding during and after childbirth. The aim of this study was to compare the rectal and sublingual misoprostol administration in reducing bleeding during and after cesarean section. Materials and methods: This double-blind clinical trial study was performed on 80 pregnant women who referred to Shahid Sadoughi Hospital in Yazd for elective cesarean section. Mothers were randomly divided into two groups. Immediately after the birth of the infant, 20 units of oxytocin were infused in 500 ml ringer serum in both groups. In the first group 400 mu g rectal misoprostol was administered after spinal anesthesia and in the second group 400 mu g sublingual misoprostol. The data were collected by a questionnaire and the data were analyzed by SPSS 22 software. Results: The results of the study showed that intraoperative hemorrhage was 393.37 ml in the rectal misoprostol group and 404.25 ml in the sublingual misoprostol group (p = 0.73). Also, there was no significant difference in the amount of bleeding in recovery between the two groups (p = 0.91). Mean preoperative hemoglobin level was 12.86 in rectal group and 12.26 in sublingual group (p = 0.07). Postoperative mean hemoglobin was 11.85 in rectal group and 11.4 in sublingual group (p = 0.18). None of the patients needed transfusions during the study and the side effects such as shivering, nausea and vomiting were not different between the two groups (p>0.05). Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that sublingual misoprostol is as effective as rectal misoprostol and that sublingual form may be used as a drug in the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage rather than rectal form.