Choice of analgesia or anesthesia for pain relief in suction curettage

One hundred and fifteen patients admitted to Duke University Medical Center from January 1, 1973, to December 31, 1974 inclusive, with the diagnosis of uncomplicated spontaneous incomplete or inevitable abortion were included in a randomized prospective study. All patients underwent suction curettage under either analgesia or general inhalation anesthesia. Patient response was adjudged regarding comfort and cooperativeness in the group receiving analgesia and postprocedure rehabilitation and discharge times in both groups. Fifteen of 59 patients receiving analgesia only were recorded unanimously as failures. Post-operative ambulation was no more rapid in patients receiving analgesia. Procedure-to-discharge intervals were unrelated to medication modality. There appears to be no advantage to analgesia as far as rehabilitation time, procedure-to-discharge time, and medical complications are concerned.