This study was carried out to evaluate the clinical efficacy of
Xiong-gui-jiao-ai-tang (Kyuki-kyogai-to), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, in the treatment of
threatened abortion in early pregnancy. We enrolled 72 women diagnosed with
threatened abortion at Osaka Medical College Hospital and assigned them at random to the following two groups: a group of 36 women who received
Xiong-gui-jiao-ai-tang at a dose of 7.5 g/day and another group of 36 women who received
human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)(control group). We found that in the
Xiong-gui-jiao-ai-tang group (2.9 + or - 3.5 days), the number of days required before hemostasis was reached in the uterus was significantly shorter than in the control group (10.8 + or - 8.2 days, p < 0.0001). Furthermore, the number of days required for retroplacental
hematoma in the vicinity of the gestational sac to disappear was significantly shorter in the
Xiong-gui-jiao-ai-tang group (9.9 + or - 7.1 days) than in the control group (23.2 + or - 12.8 days) (p < 0.0001). In retroplacental
hematoma size, significant rates of reduction were obtained in both major and minor axis measurements at the 7th day of treatment for the
Xiong-gui-jiao-ai-tang group compared to the control group (control vs
Xiong-gui-jiao-ai-tang: major axis: 7.5 + or - 3.8% vs 42.3 + or - 10.5%; minor axis: 15.3 + or - 16.8% vs 71.5 + or - 48.2%)(p < 0.0001, each case). The results of this study demonstrated the beneficial effects of
Xiong-gui-jiao-ai-tang in stabilizing early pregnancy.
Xiong-gui-jiao-ai-tang can be expected to improve unstable early pregnancy with
uterine bleeding and to prevent abortion.