Procedure options in medical abortion

Christian Fiala

Gynmed Ambulatorium, Vienna, Austria

Mifepristone has been approved for more than 15 years now. Surprisingly and in contrast to other treatments in medicine, the regimen for medical abortion has undergone only minor improvements during that time.

The following treatment option in the practise of medical abortion will be presented:

• Option of home use of misoprostol

• Is there a lower or upper limit in gestational age?

• Is there a need for giving Rh-immunoglobulins to Rh-negative women in very early medical abortion?

• Improving pain treatment including the use of NSAIDs

• How to verify expulsion: Ultrasound or hCG?

• Restrictions in access to abortion in the European perspective: where is the evidence?

Making abortion practice truly evidence based and integrating these findings into current practise would improve women's health status, give them more autonomy in the abortion process and would reduce medical supervision wherever it has been shown to be unnecessary.