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Pain control in abortion
Author(s) -
Wiebe E.R.,
Rawling M.
Publication year - 1995
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 - 10.1016/0020-7292(95)02416-a
Subject(s) - medicine , lidocaine , bupivacaine , anesthesia , placebo , local anesthetic , ibuprofen , abortion , randomized controlled trial , surgery , pregnancy , alternative medicine , pathology , biology , pharmacology , genetics
Objective: To reduce the pain experienced during abortion. Methods: A four‐phase study was conducted at a free‐standing abortion clinic. Phase 1: a double‐blind, randomized, placebo‐controlled trial of 600 mg ibuprofen given preoperatively was carried out in 193 women. Pain during the procedure and 30 min postoperatively was compared. Phase 2: a double‐blind, randomized trial compared 1% lidocaine, buffered 1% lidocaine and 0.25% bupivacaine in terms of the pain of the injection and the pain of the procedure in 200 women. Phase 3: waiting times of 0, 3 and 10–20 min between the end of the injection and the beginning of the procedure were compared in terms of pain during the procedure in 139 women. Phase 4: local anesthetic was injected into one side of the cervix slowly and one side quickly and the pain of the injections was compared in 87 women. Results: Phase 1:ibuprofen reduced pain scores more than placebo with the improvement being greatest for the postoperative period. Phase 2: buffered lidocaine was significantly less painful to inject than plain lidocaine or bupivacaine. Phase 3: waiting between the injection and the procedure did not improve pain control. Phase 4: slower injections were found to be less painful than fast injections. Conclusions: Several methods were found to improve pain control during abortions.