Menstrual induction: its place in clinical practice

From June 1973 to October 1974, 221 patients underwent menstrual induction in the private offices at a University Medical Faculty Group located in its major teaching hospital with ready access to operating room facilities. The rationale for subclassifying early abortion as "menstrual induction" is discussed. In this series menstrual induction was performed on patients who were 7 to 21 days beyond the date of an expected menses. Histologic examination of the tissue removed was consistent with a diagnosis of pregnancy in 98.2% of the patients. Complication rates following the use of the practices outlined in this report were acceptably low.