Miscarriage & curettage

Definitions

Fausse couche

The miscarriage is the spontaneous end of pregnancy at a stage the embryo or the foetus is not capable to survive independently. It is a frequent phenomenon knowing that approximately 15 - 20% of the pregnancies are stopped naturally during the first 12 weeks of gestation. It is exceptional that events such as fall, accident, stress, prolonged work lead to a miscarriage. A genetic anomaly - which occurs on the chromosomes of the man or the woman at the time of the conception - leads in more half of the miscarriages. Other causes can lead to a miscarriage such as a viral or bacterial infection, a malformation of the cervix or uterus (in the event of late miscarriage >12 weeks of amenorrhea), a hormonal imbalance. No research of the cause will be carried out for a first miscarriage, except a histological examination (microscopic examination) further to the curettage. It is only in the event of 3 successive aborted pregnancies that specialized examinations will be carried out.

Treatments

2 treatments can be offered to you according to your pregnancy term:

Misoprostol

The misoprostol causes the cervix to dilate and the uterine lining to shed in order to expel remaining foetal or placental tissues. It was proved very effective to complete an incomplete abortion with 80% of effectiveness and an expulsion within the 2 days for 95% of the patients.
This medical treatment will be offered to you if your pregnancy is not less than 7 weeks approximately, if you live close to the private hospital, if a person can stay close to you and is able to transport you to the emergencies in the event of problems.

You will meet your surgeon two days after the administration of the misoprostol in order to check by ultrasound the absence of any intra-uterine retention. In the case the abortion process was not complete curettage will be performed.

Dilatation & Curettage (D&C) :

This procedure is performed when the uterus is not completely emptied, further to a miscarriage or an abortion. It usually involves a clinic visit of several hours. The practitioner will use instruments to dilate the cervix – transvaginally – in order to withdraw any foetal and / or placental tissues from the uterine cavity by vacuum aspiration. The procedure itself takes less than 15 min, under local or general anaesthesia.

Last update: 10/2/2013