Five-year retrospective review of ultrasound-guided manual vacuum aspiration for first-trimester miscarriage

Manual vacuum aspiration is increasingly accepted as an alternative to medical or surgical evacuation of the uterus after first-trimester miscarriage. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of ultrasound-guided manual vacuum aspiration (USG-MVA) in the management of first-trimester miscarriage.

This retrospective analysis included adult women with first-trimester miscarriage who underwent USG-MVA in Hong Kong between July 2015 and February 2021. The primary outcome was the efficacy of USG-MVA in terms of complete evacuation of the uterus, without the need for further medical or surgical intervention. Secondary outcomes included tolerance of the entire procedure, the success rate of karyotyping using chorionic villi, and procedural safety (ie, any clinically significant complications).

In total, 331 patients were scheduled to undergo USG-MVA for first-trimester miscarriage or incomplete miscarriage. The procedure was completed in 314 patients and well-tolerated in all of those patients. The complete evacuation rate was 94.6% (297/314), which is similar to the rate (98.1%) achieved by conventional surgical evacuation in a previous randomised controlled trial in our unit. There were no major complications. Samples from 95.2% of patients were suitable for karyotyping, which is considerably higher than the rate of suitable samples (82.9%) obtained via conventional surgical evacuation in our previous randomised controlled trial.

Ultrasound-guided manual vacuum aspiration is a safe and effective method to manage first-trimester miscarriage. Although it currently is not extensively used in Hong Kong, its broader clinical application could avoid general anaesthesia and shorten hospital stay.