Complications of abortion

Estimates vary, but complications can occur in around three percent of cases. The risk of complications greatly depends on gestational length (length of the pregnancy), since abortions performed in the first trimester of pregnancy are the safest. Another major safety factor is the doctor’s level of experience and training.

 Complications of abortion can include:

Haemorrhage – bleeding after an abortion should be similar to the bleeding experienced during a normal menstrual period. Heavy bleeding may indicate that pieces of the placenta remained inside the uterus. The treatment for this is to do a repeat suction curettage of the uterus. Blood transfusion is rarely required.
Injury to the uterus – the walls of the uterus are muscular but soft. A suction tube or knife can puncture the uterus, potentially causing abdominal infection (peritonitis) and severe blood loss.
Injury to the cervix – the cervix opening is stretched during an abortion. This can occasionally cause the cervix to become weakened, or ‘incompetent’. An incompetent cervix can cause problems in later pregnancies, because it might be too weak to remain fully closed under the weight of a growing fetus.
Infection – a fever (high temperature) may indicate pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), or infection of the uterus and fallopian tubes. Damaged fallopian tubes increase a woman’s risk of experiencing a future ectopic (tubal) pregnancy, which means her fertilised egg lodges in the fallopian tube instead of the uterus. If a woman already has the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia, her risk of PID increases. Retained pieces of placenta can also cause local infection. Treatment includes antibiotics.

After the operation
Be guided by your clinic. Generally, post-operative suggestions to reduce the risk of infection include (for the two weeks following the procedure):
Shower instead of taking a bath
Don’t have sexual intercourse
Use sanitary pads instead of tampons
Don’t go swimming.
Seek medical advice
See your doctor immediately if:
Your bleeding becomes heavy
You run a fever
You experience severe cramping or abdominal (tummy) pain.These symptoms could indicate an infection.