[Abortion at 10 to 12 weeks using a plastic syringe or electric aspirator]

The study included 170 women subjected to menstrual regulation. The double-valve band syringe was used in 96 and the electric pump (the vacuum source usually used at the Department) in 74 cases. Nearly all the procedures were performed under general anesthesia, using 8 mm, 10 mm or 12 mm plastic rigid cannulae. Three abortions with the hand syringe also required dilatation and curettage, and all three women suffered blood loss exceeding 100 ml. There was one cervical laceration surgically repaired and a case of adnexitis reported among the hand syringe group. Immediate complications occurred in 7.3% of the cases using the hand syringe and in 4.1% of using the electric pump. The mean procedural time was 4.2 minutes and 4.0 minutes, respectively, with the hand syringe and the electric pump. Only three women reported complications or complaints at the follow-up visit, all of them from the electric pump group.