A two sample sequential Wilcoxon test will be used to analyze the data. We performed a small pilot study in our department on 20 patients prior to hysteroscopy in January 2006 to investigate the pre-operative variability (SD) in cervical dilatation. The standard deviation was 1.3 mm in postmenopausal patients (n=5), and 1.4 mm in premenopausal patients (n=15). The mean cervical dilatation was 3.4 mm in postmenopausal patients and 5.4 mm in premenopausal patients. The design of the main trial is based on a significance level of 5% and a power of 95% against a 1 mm difference in the cervical dilatation caused by misoprostol and placebo. As it seems unlikely that use of misoprostol could cause a constriction of the cervix, a one-sided test is chosen. The trial will continue until either the null hypothesis or the alternative hypothesis has been refuted.