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Routine ultrasound for pregnancy termination requests increases women's choice and reduces inappropriate treatments
Author(s) -
McGalliard Catherine,
Gaudoin Marco
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2004.00014.x
Subject(s) - medicine , obstetrics , pregnancy , gestation , observational study , ultrasound , gestational age , gynecology , prospective cohort study , early pregnancy factor , first trimester , surgery , radiology , genetics , pathology , biology
This prospective observational study aimed to determine the correlation between gestational age based on menstrual dates and ultrasound scan in women requesting pregnancy termination and the proportion of cases where first trimester medical termination might be offered. Two hundred and sixty‐two women (93%) had ongoing pregnancies. Two hundred and thirty‐seven women (90%) were certain of their menstrual dates but there was a discrepancy of more than one week in gestational age in 38%. Calculated from their menstrual dates, 138 women might have been offered first trimester medical termination but this rose to 173 if gestation was based on ultrasound scan. From this study, we believe ultrasound should be performed routinely for all women requesting pregnancy termination.