Study	Reason for exclusion
Abdel Fattah 1997	Conference abstract. No information about gestational age but, given title, probably includes pregnancies > 24 weeks as well as < 24 weeks.
Almog 2005	Termination of 'viable' pregnancies ‐ mainly with fetal anomalies.
Anderman 2000	Conference abstract. Includes pregnancies > 24 weeks as well as < 24 weeks.
Avila‐Vergara 1997	Intrauterine deaths mainly third trimester.
Bebbington 2002	Termination of viable pregnancies.
Cabrol 1990	Trial of mifepristone for induction of labour after intrauterine death ‐ but mainly late second and third trimester pregnancies.
Clevin 2001	Abstract in Danish. A prospective, randomised study carried out to clarify the effect of vaginal administration of a prostaglandin E1 analogue (gemeprost) versus surgical management (curettage) on miscarriages at up to twelve weeks of gestation. Three groups: 1 (n = 27), 2A (n = 17) and 2B (n = 17) , allocated according the endometrial thickness. The measured outcomes were reduction of endometrial thickness, duration of vaginal bleeding and pain, reported in a non‐suitable format for analysis.
David 2003	Randomised trial (details of randomisation unclear) of two methods to soften the cervix before surgical evacuation for early non‐viable pregnancies. No usable clinical data, given short timescale between treatment and surgery.
Dickinson 1998	Trial included women with fetal malformations and maternal indications for pregnancy termination between 14 and 28 weeks, as well as pregnancies with fetal death. Data will be included for the latter if these can be obtained from the authors.
Dickinson 2002	Trial included women with fetal malformations and maternal indications for pregnancy termination between 14 and 30 weeks, as well as pregnancies with fetal death. Data will be included for the latter if these can be obtained from the authors.
Dickinson 2003	Randomised trial comparing oral with vaginal administration of misoprostol to terminate pregnancies with fetal malformations ‐ not non‐viable pregnancies.
Eppel 2005	Trial included women with fetal malformations and maternal indications for pregnancy termination between 14 and 23 weeks, as well as pregnancies with fetal death. Data will be included for the latter if these can be obtained from the authors.
Feldman 2003	Trial included women with fetal malformations and maternal indications for pregnancy termination between 14 and 23 weeks, as well as pregnancies with fetal death. Data will be included for the latter if these can be obtained from the authors.
Ghorab 1998	Trial included women with fetal malformations for pregnancy termination, as well as pregnancies with fetal death. Data will be included for the latter if these can be obtained from the authors.
Gonzalez 2001	Trial included women with fetal malformations and maternal indications for pregnancy termination between 14 and 23 weeks, as well as pregnancies with fetal death. Data will be included for the latter if these can be obtained from the authors.
Grimes 2004	Trial included women with other reasons for pregnancy termination, as well as pregnancies with fetal death. Data will be included for the latter if these can be obtained from the authors.
Gronland 2002	Not a randomised trial. Three centre study of women with non‐viable pregnancies comparing three treatment regimens: misoprostol, mifepristone + misoprostol, surgical evacuation ‐ with treatment regimen changing at each hospital every four months.
Hausler 1997	Prospective randomised controlled trial evaluating three interventions for complete spontaneous abortion. Diagnosis was based on positive pregnant test, vaginal bleeding and/or evacuation of tissue from the vagina, a closed uterine orifice with only slight bleeding on admission and a possible clear sonographic pregnancy diagnosis in the history. Interventions: A) n = 15 curettage; B) n = 20 only controlled and; C) n = 15 additionally treated for 10 days with an oral hormone intake of 2 mg norethisterone acetate and 0.01 mg ethinyl oestradiol 3 x day. Randomisation by sealed unmarked envelopes. 63 patients were included in the study and allocated randomly to each group. 13 women (20.6%) were excluded from the study after randomisation: 10 did not report for the planned follow‐up control, one did not report for curettage, in one the height of the endometrium was > 8 mm and in one an ectopic pregnancy was diagnosed 6 days after the randomisation. The study only presents outcomes, in a non‐suitable format, regarding hCG clearing time and duration of the secondary haemorrhage from the day of randomisation.
Herabutya 2005	RCT of misoprostol for terminating viable pregnancies.
Hidar 2001	Trial included women with fetal malformations and maternal indications for pregnancy termination between 13 and 29 weeks, as well as pregnancies with fetal death. Data will be included for the latter if these can be obtained from the authors.
Hill 1991	Trial includes fetal deaths in both second and third trimesters.
Hogg 2000	Abstract. Trial included women with other reasons for pregnancy termination, as well as pregnancies with fetal death. Data will be included for the latter if these can be obtained from the authors.
Jain 1994	Trial included women with fetal malformations and maternal indications for pregnancy termination between 12 and 22 weeks, as well as pregnancies with fetal death. Data will be included for the latter if these can be obtained from the authors.
Jain 1999	Trial included women with fetal malformations and maternal indications for pregnancy termination between 12 and 22 weeks, as well as pregnancies with fetal death. Data will be included for the latter if these can be obtained from the authors.
Johnson 1997	Randomised controlled trial evaluating pain and bleeding and comparing surgical to medical treatment. Surgical arm (n = 12) uterine curettage under general anesthesia. Medical arm (n = 17) include three different participant conditions and treatments: a) no treatment if women had a complete abortion and uterine cavity echo (nyometrium‐myometrium) less than 1.5 mm; b) women with incomplete abortion : 1 mg pessary of Gemeprost (Cervagem, May and Baker) and remained in hospital for 4 hours or until the had passed POC; and c) women with intact gestational sac (but non‐viable fetus) 200 mg RU 486 (mifepristone) and then allowed home, readmitted 36‐48 hours later for 1 mg of vaginal Cervagem. Data from each subgroup in the medical arm are not separated. The sample size is too small to detect any difference among such number of groups.
Kanhai 1989	Includes both second and third trimester fetal deaths.
Lippert 1978	Second and third trimester fetal deaths. Not obviously randomised.
Machtinger 2002	Abstract. Appears to include both non‐viable pregnancies and miscarriages. Await full report.
Machtinger 2004	Abstract. Appears to include both non‐viable pregnancies and miscarriages. Await full report.
Makhlouf 2003	Not clear from paper if all pregnancies complicated by fetal death. Seeking clarification from authors.
Martin 1965	Allocation based on alternation, not randomisation. Alternation violated.
Nakintu 2001	Both second and third trimester fetal deaths. Seeking separate data from author.
Ngai 2001	Includes data on women with both non‐viable pregnancies and incomplete miscarriages. If these data can be separated by the researchers, these data may be included in the future.
Nuthalapaty 2004	Abstract. Clinical indications for termination not described.
Nuutila 1997	Trial included women with fetal malformations and maternal indications for pregnancy termination between 12 and 24 weeks, as well as pregnancies with fetal death. Data will be included for the latter if these can be obtained from the authors.
Owen 1999	Trial included women with fetal malformations and maternal indications for pregnancy termination between 16 and 24 weeks, as well as pregnancies with fetal death. Data will be included for the latter if these can be obtained from the authors.
Paraskevaides 1992	Small study of 16 women "randomised" to surgical evacuation or prostaglandin F2alpha or Trilostane treatment. No details about clinical presentation or ultrasound and clinical findings, but from abstract includes both women with non‐viable pregnancies and incomplete miscarriage.
Perry 1999	Excluded women with fetal deaths.
Piotrowski 1979	Not clear that this was a randomised trial.
Pongsatha 2004	Trial excluded women with fetal deaths.
Ramsey 2004	Trial included women with other reasons for pregnancy termination, as well as pregnancies with fetal death. Data will be included for the latter if these can be obtained from the authors.
Roy 2003	Abstract. Not clear if fetal death included as indication for termination.
Salamalekis 1990	Abstract only. Treatment allocation by alternation, not by randomisation.
Su 2005	Termination of pregnancy for fetal anomalies, social reasons or maternal disease; not for non‐viable pregnancies.
Surita 1997	Abstract only. May include third trimester fetal deaths.
Thavarasah 1986	Unclear from paper but allocation may have been by alternation. Will seek clarification from authors.
Toppozada 1994	Includes third trimester fetal deaths.
Yapar 1996	Includes indications for termination other than fetal death. High degree of protocol violation (60/400). Results not presented as intention‐to‐treat.
Zhang 2005	Includes both non‐viable pregnancies and miscarriages. Data will be included for the former if these can be obtained from the authors.

hCG: human chorionic gonadotropin POC: products of conception RCT: randomised controlled trial