Premium
Comparison of complications associated with induction by misoprostol versus dilation and evacuation for second‐trimester abortion
Author(s) -
Sonalkar Sarita,
Ogden Shan N.,
Tran Linda K.,
Chen Angela Y.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1002/ijgo.12229
Subject(s) - medicine , misoprostol , pregnancy , obstetrics , logistic regression , labor induction , medical record , complication , abortion , retrospective cohort study , cohort , second trimester , medical abortion , surgery , gestation , oxytocin , genetics , biology
Objective To compare the frequency of complications between medical induction with misoprostol and dilation and evacuation (D&E) for second‐trimester uterine evacuation. Methods In a retrospective cohort study, records were reviewed from all women who underwent second‐trimester uterine evacuation between 14 and 24 weeks of pregnancy at an academic hospital in the USA from January 2007 to December 2008. Total complications and serious complications were compared between medical induction and D&E, and clinical covariates associated with complications were assessed. Results Overall, 465 women were included. At least one complication occurred in 28 (23.0%) of 122 women in the medical induction group, and 24 (7.0%) of 343 women in the D&E group ( P <0.001). One or more serious complications occurred in 4 (3.3%) women undergoing medical induction and 5 (1.5%) undergoing D&E ( P =0.251). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that increasing pregnancy length ( P =0.003) and medical induction (as compared with D&E; P =0.004) were associated with complications. Conclusion Although D&E resulted in fewer overall complications as compared with medical induction, the rate of serious complications did not differ between the two procedures.