Out-patient uterine vacuum curettage without anesthesia

The Vabra aspirator was used for vacuum curettage in 130 Nigerian women needing uterine curettage. The procedure was performed on an out-patient basis without anesthesia. Eighty-nine patients (68.5 percent) had their operations at the time of their first visit to the gynecological consultative clinic. The procedure was acceptable to all the patients; 117 (90 per cent) reported no pain and all 120 patients seen at the follow-up clinic returned to work a few hours after the procedure. The vacuum curettings were adequate for histological diagnosis in 92.3 per cent of the patients in whom specimens were obtained. There was no immediate or long-term complications.