With the advent of hystroscopic surgery, abnormalities confined to the uterine cavity such as endometrial polyps, submucous myomas, uterine septae and synechia , were supposed to be treated effectively. Diagnostic hysteroscopy is the gold standard for investigating the intrauterine diseases as it allows for biopsy and removal of lesions.

Forty premenopausal women without the history of normal vaginal delivery eligible for operative hysteroscopy were recruited. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 400 microgram vaginal misoprostol or no treatment, 10-12 hours before operative hysteroscopy. Main outcome measures were cervical width and duration of cervical dilatation.

Patients using vaginal misoprostol in treatment group had significantly greater cervical width compared with control group patients (mean: 7.85 vs. 5.80, P = 0.024).

The mean duration of cervical dilatation in misoprostol group was significantly lower than that of control group (30.50 s vs. 52.75 s, P = 0.030). The frequency of complications was similar in treatment and control groups.