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For many of the hundreds of thousands of U.S. women seeking abortion services every year, oral mifepristone followed by a dose of misoprostol is preferable to a procedure. To evaluate whether oral narcotics improve pain control and degree of satisfaction among women taking abortion pills, researchers conducted a randomized trial involving 96 women with pregnancies of <7 weeks' gestation and 76 women with pregnancies of 7 to 10 weeks. All participants received ibuprofen (800-mg tablets) for use as needed for cramping and, in addition, were randomized to receive either 10-mg oxycodone tablets or placebo for more-severe cramping.
Participants reported pain was worst a mean of 2 hours after taking misoprostol and lasted for a median of 1 hour re…