AbstractBackground: Premature rupture of fetal membranes (PROM) occurs in approximately 5-10% of all pregnancies, of which approximately 80 % occur at term (Term PROM). If active management of term PROM is supported with induction, then it is associated with reduced maternal infective morbidity without increasing the caesarean section or operative vaginal birth rates. Objective: To compare the time of onset of labour among immediate versus delayed administration of oral misoprostol for induction of labour in premature rupture of foetal membranes at term gestation. Material and Methods: This study was conducted in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Command Hospital Air Force, Bangalore as a randomized comparative interventional study on 60 patients with confirmed PROM at term 37 to 40 weeks gestation. These patients were randomly divided into two groups by using computer generated random system of allocation after fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Group A (immediate) received misoprostol within 6 hours of PROM and Group B (delayed) received misoprostol after 6 hours of PROM. Augmentation of labour if required was done with oxytocin infusion. Results: The present study showed that mean time interval from PROM to delivery was 14.2±3.30 hours in immediate group of induction and 23.04±5.44hrs in delayed group of induction and p value is 0.00 (p value <0.001) which is highly significant. Early induction of labour with oral low dose misoprostol 25 microgram in term PROM patients is always better than expectant management for better obstetric outcome. There were no maternal complications in the immediate group of induction, 2 cases with intrapartum fever, 2 cases with GIT symptoms and one case had PPH, and one patient underwent LSCS in delayed group.
Keywords: Immediate and Delayed; Misoprostol; PROM.