Does the presence of anhydramnios affect the duration of medical abortion?

The aim of the study was to determine whether anhydramnios affected the duration of medical abortion in cases with various indications as compared to cases with normal amniotic fluid volume.

Patients who were admitted to our clinic because of medical abortion between January 2010-December 2013 were included in this retrospective study. A total of 32 pregnant women with anhydramnios (study group) and 67 pregnant women with normal amniotic fluid volume but with fetal abnormality (control group) were included in the study. Patient age, gravidity, parity, gestational age, previous delivery route, and duration of the abortion were recorded.

Mean duration of the abortion in the study group was 71.93 ± 47.51 h as compared to 79.08 ± 52.62 h in the control group. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of duration of the abortion (p = 0.516). Also, we found no statistically significant differences in duration of the abortion with regard to previous delivery route (p = 0.220).

There were no statistically significant differences between the study group and controls in terms of duration of the abortion. In addition, neither parity nor previous delivery route affected the duration of the abortion.