Abortion :: Similar pregnancy outcome after medical or surgical abortion

Women who undergo medical abortions with the pills mifepristone and misoprostol have no greater risk of experiencing a tubal pregnancy or miscarriage in future pregnancies than women who undergo surgical abortions, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The long-term safety of surgical abortion in the first trimester is well established. Despite the increasing use of medical abortion (abortion by means of medication), limited information is available regarding the effects of this procedure on subsequent pregnancies.

Researchers identified all women living in Denmark who had undergone an abortion for nonmedical reasons between 1999 and 2004 and obtained information regarding subsequent pregnancies from national registries. Risks of ectopic pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, preterm birth (at <37 weeks of gestation), and low birth weight (<2500 g) in the first subsequent pregnancy in women who had had a first-trimester medical abortion were compared with risks in women who had had a first-trimester surgical abortion.Researchers examined the data of 11,814 pregnancies in which 2710 women had a previous first-trimester medical abortion and 9104 women had surgical abortion. Ratios of different pregnancy outcomes were almost similar in both the groups.Researchers found no evidence that a previous medical abortion, as compared with a previous surgical abortion, increases the risk of spontaneous abortion, ectopic pregnancy, preterm birth, or low birth weight.


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