Postabortal infectious morbidity after antibiotic treatment of chlamydia-positive patients

The postabortal infection rate in chlamydia-positive women after antibiotic treatment (doxycycline or erythromycin) was compared with infectious morbidity among untreated culture-positive women in a comparable previous study. Of 69 chlamydia-positive patients, 5 (7.2%) developed endometritis and one (1.4%) salpingitis during the first postoperative month. The corresponding figures during the previous regimen were 16 (23.2%) and 10 (14.5%), respectively, i.e. a highly significant decrease (P less than 0.001). The infection rate among the chlamydia-negative women was unchanged. It is suggested that preoperative screening for C. trachomatis should precede legal abortion. Initiation of treatment of culture-positive cases before or at least in conjunction with the abortion seems to reduce the risk of infectious complications to the same level as in chlamydia-negative women.