Vaginal cleansing at vacuum aspiration abortion does not reduce the risk of postoperative infection

Does a thorough vaginal cleansing with bactericidal solutions prior to induced first-trimester vacuum aspiration abortion reduce the frequency of postabortal pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)? To answer this question we compared the frequency of PID in 372 women where a thorough preoperative vaginal cleansing with a bactericidal solution was undertaken at abortion with that in 350 women where the upper part of the vagina was swabbed with a pad moistened with a 0.9% saline solution. A postoperative PID was recorded in 25 (6.7%) of the former women and in 23 (6.6%) of the latter women.