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A five-year experience with second-trimester induced abortions: no increase in complication rate as compared to the
F R Jacot1, C Poulin, A P Bilodeau
1Department of Family Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
Objective:
Our purpose was to compare the complication rate of first-trimester suction curettage with that of second-trimester dilation-and-evacuation abortions in the same clinical setting.
Study Design:
Retrospective analysis (chart review) of the 3772 induced abortions performed between 1986 and 1990 at the Family Planning Clinic of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
Results:
Among the 3355 cases with known follow-up (89%), the complication rate was 5.1% for the 2908 suction curettages at < 15 weeks' gestation compared with 2.9% for the 447 dilation-and-evacuation procedures at 15 to 20 weeks' gestation. Serious complications were few and not increased among patients undergoing dilation and evacuation.
Conclusion:
A careful approach to second-trimester dilation-and-evacuation procedures can make them comparatively as safe as suction curettages, contrary to common belief derived from large surveys done in the late 1970s.