[Medical abortions - experience from the first 246 treatments in Iceland]

Medical abortion is a safe and effective treatment and is increasingly being used for termination of early pregnancy. In February 2006 medical abortion became available to women in Iceland. The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of medical abortion and evaluate whether it is a suitable alternative to surgical abortion in Iceland.

All eligible women (pregnancy <63 days, n=246) who chose medical abortion from February 2006 until July 2007 were included in the study. Data was collected on those who needed surgical evacuation and on other complications.

The proportion of women who had medical abortion was 17.4% (n=246/1171). Curettage was needed in 8.9% of cases. Antibiotics were prescribed in 4.1% of cases and four women were admitted for complications without need for evacuation (urinary tract infection=2, bleeding=2), one woman was admitted to the intensive care unit for 24 hours because of unexplained fever and one woman needed blood transfusion.

The success rate of more than 90% is comparable to what has been reported in other studies (92-99%) and this treatment option has proven to be safe in our settings. In total 17.4% of women opting for abortion had a medical abortion compared to 50% in Sweden and 46% in Denmark. With more experience and general awareness of the possibilities of medical abortion the ratio is likely to increase.