FATAL HEMORRHAGE FROM LEGAL-ABORTION IN THE UNITED-STATES

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 157  (5) , 461-466
Abstract
Hemorrhage was the 3rd most frequent cause of death from legal abortion in the USA between 1972 and 1979. This study was undertaken to document the scope of the problem, to identify risk factors for fatal hemorrhage and to recommend ways of preventing these deaths. Deaths were identified through the CDC''s nationwide surveillance of deaths from abortions; information on numbers and characteristics of women having legal abortions was obtained from CDC and the Alan Guttmacher Institute. Women (24) died from hemorrhage after legal abortion in the United States from 1972 to 1979, for a death-to-case rate of 0.3 deaths per 100,000 abortions (95% confidence interval 0.2-0.5). Women who died from hemorrhage were significantly older than those who died from other causes (27.6 vs. 24.4 yr; P < 0.05).Documented uterine perforation or rupture was far more frequent among women who died from hemorrhage than those who died from other causes (71 vs. 8%; P < 0.001). Women who sustained uterine perforation or rupture were over 1000 times more likely to die from hemorrhage than those who did not. Deaths from hemorrhage can be eliminated by preventing uterine trauma during abortion and by rapidly diagnosing and treating hemorrhage if it occurs.