Blood loss in termination of early pregnancy by vacuum aspiration and by combination of mifepristone and gemeprost

Abstract

Blood loss was measured in 17 subjects undergoing surgical termination of pregnancy and in 96 subjects undergoing medical termination of pregnancy with sequential mifepristone (200 mg, 400 mg, 600 mg) and 1 mg prostaglandin analogue gemeprost. The median blood loss were 53.2, 84.1, 99.9 and 101.4 ml, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the surgical and each of the medical termination group of subjects but there was no difference among the subgroups in the medical termination group. The pattern of bleeding was also similar, being heaviest on the day and the days shortly after prostaglandin administration. Majority of them (> 90%) experienced blood loss of < 300 ml and there was no significant drop in hemoglobin level during the 6-week follow-up period. A few women experienced heavy bleeding and, hence, strict supervision on medical termination of pregnancy is recommended.