Carbegoline helps inhibit lactation after abortion, miscarriage

Treatment with carbegoline is efficacious and well tolerated for reducing lactation symptoms following early second-trimester abortion or pregnancy loss, according to a study.

The study included 69 pregnant women at 16–20 weeks of gestation. Median gestational duration was 18 weeks. More than half of the women were nulliparous (53 percent), self-identified as Hispanic (63.6 percent), and had public insurance (68.2 percent).

The women were randomly assigned to receive cabergoline 1 mg or placebo once within 4 h of uterine evacuation or foetal expulsion. They completed a validated electronic survey, which assessed breast symptoms, side effects, and bother. Breast symptoms—defined as a composite of engorgement, milk leakage, tenderness, and need for pain relief—at day 4 was the primary outcome. Bother from breast symptoms was also assessed as a secondary outcome.

At day 4, significantly fewer women in the cabergoline than in the placebo group reported any breast symptoms (50 percent vs 88.2 percent; p<0.001). Additionally, only 3.1 percent of carbegoline-treated women reported significant bother from breast symptoms as opposed to 20.6 percent of those who received placebo (p=0.05).

The differences between the carbegoline and placebo groups for the outcomes examined persisted even in the earlier gestational duration strata.