D. Vitner et al.
Speeches:
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High failure rates of medical termination of pregnancy after the introduction to a large teaching hospital
D. Vitner, R. Machtinger, M. Baum, M. Goldenberg, E. Schiff, D.S. Seidman (Israel)
Department of Ob. & Gyn., Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, affiliated to Sackler School of Med., Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
dseidman@tau.ac.il
Background. The outcome of all 349 women who chose to undergo medical termination of pregnancy in a tertiary medical center during 2000-2003 was studied.
Methods. The success rates in two time periods (2000-2001 and 2002-2003) were compared in order to assess the effectiveness of medical abortion with mifepristone and misoprostol after its introduction to a large academic tertiary medical center.
Results. The success rates were overall disappointing and significantly declined over time (87.0% vs. 79.3%, p=0.029).
Conclusions. The continuing relatively high failure rate is probably due to the difficulty in defining clear sonographic criteria for treatment failure, and the complexity of a follow-up program implemented at a large teaching hospital by a broad staff with widely varying experience and knowledge of the new procedure.