Table 3

Complications following termination of pregnancy (13-19 weeks) by method of termination

Medical

n = 51

Surgical

n = 133¹

P

n

%

n

%

Nights in hospital not including readmissions

0

21

41

-

1

22

43

2

6

12

3

1

2

5

1

2

Manual Removal of placenta^2,3

8

16

-

Complications

Readmission > 3 hours

3

6

6

4

0.7

Evacuation for retained products of conception²

5

10

2

1

0.02

Endometritis requiring intravenous antibiotics

1

2

3

2

1.0

Blood transfusion

1

2

0

0

0.3

¹ no surgical cases were admitted

² manual removal of placenta and evacuation for retained products of conception were not mutually exclusive

³ there was one case of partial expulsion of the placenta but required manual removal at 17 hours.

Mauelshagen et al. Reproductive Health 2009 6:16   doi:10.1186/1742-4755-6-16