Human Reproduction, Vol. 16, No. 1, 67-71,
January 2001
© 2001 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
A comparative study of surgical and medical procedures: 932 pregnancy terminations up to 63 days gestation
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Women's Centre, The John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, UK
The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the efficacy and complications associated with early medical and surgical pregnancy termination. The study population comprised 932 consecutive women undergoing pregnancy termination at gestations of 63 days or less. There were no age or parity differences between the study groups. Medical termination was performed with mifepristone 200 mg orally and misoprostol 800 µg vaginally; surgical aspiration termination was performed under general anaesthesia. Outcome measures were: surgical curettage for presumed retained products of conception; ongoing pregnancy; and planned and emergency review in the unit. Early medical and surgical termination were associated with a 90.2 and 94.5% complete abortion rate respectively (P = 0.025). The complete abortion rate with medical termination decreased significantly with increasing parity; no such relationship with surgical abortion was found. Women of parity three or more were less likely to have a complete abortion following a medical (83.3%) compared to surgical procedure (97.7%) (P = 0.028). The ongoing pregnancy rate was 0.9% with medical and 0.5% with surgical termination (P = NS). Medical termination was associated with a lower complete abortion rate than surgical termination, particularly for women of higher parity. However, early medical termination allows over 90% of women to avoid the risks of surgical instrumentation of the uterus and anaesthesia.
Key words: abortion/medical/mifepristone/surgical/termination
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: McGill Reproductive Centre F6, Royal Victoria Hospital, 687 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, PQ H3A 1A1, Canada. E-mail: Tim.child{at}muhc.mcgill.ca
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  C. S. Shannon, B. Winikoff, R. Hausknecht, E. Schaff, P. D. Blumenthal, D. Oyer, H. Sankey, J. Wolff, and R. Goldberg Multicenter Trial of a Simplified Mifepristone Medical Abortion Regimen Obstet. Gynecol., February 1, 2005; 105(2): 345 - 351. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
C. Shannon, L P. Brothers, N. M. Philip, and B. Winikoff Ectopic Pregnancy and Medical Abortion Obstet. Gynecol., July 1, 2004; 104(1): 161 - 167. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. Rorbye, M. Norgaard, and L. Nilas Prediction of late failure after medical abortion from serial {beta}-hCG measurements and ultrasonography Hum. Reprod., January 1, 2004; 19(1): 85 - 89. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
O. S. Tang, C. C.W. Chan, E. H.Y. Ng, S. W.H. Lee, and P. C. Ho A prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trial on the use of mifepristone with sublingual or vaginal misoprostol for medical abortions of less than 9 weeks gestation Hum. Reprod., November 1, 2003; 18(11): 2315 - 2318. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
O. S. Tang, J. Xu, L. Cheng, S. W.H. Lee, and P. C. Ho Pilot study on the use of sublingual misoprostol with mifepristone in termination of first trimester pregnancy up to 9 weeks gestation Hum. Reprod., July 1, 2002; 17(7): 1738 - 1740. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
O. S. Tang, B.Y. Miao, S. W.H. Lee, and P. C. Ho Pilot study on the use of repeated doses of sublingual misoprostol in termination of pregnancy up to 12 weeks gestation: efficacy and acceptability Hum. Reprod., March 1, 2002; 17(3): 654 - 658. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T. J. Child, M. Rees, I. Z. MacKenzie, C. Westhoff, and R. Allen Curettage After Mifepristone-Induced Abortion: Frequency, Timing, and Indications Obstet. Gynecol., December 1, 2001; 98(6): 1149 - 1150. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|