Missed Ectopic Pregnancy Leads to Hysterectomy

Case Overview

This case involves a twenty-five-year-old female who was using an IUD, but became pregnant and wished to terminate her pregnancy. She had three visits with her doctors who recommended a medical abortion. The patient took the prescribed pills and came back for a two-week follow up with significant complaints of weakness, nausea, and intractable vaginal bleeding. It was determined that the patient had an extra-uterine pregnancy that went undiagnosed due to misinterpreted ultrasound imaging. The patient retained a large blood mass around her cervix and an emergency hysterectomy was required as the patient developed a vaginal cuff complication along with an evolving uterine hemorrhage.

Questions to the Gynecology expert and their responses

What are the accepted complications of a medical abortion?

Sometimes, a medical abortion does not succeed in terminating the pregnancy. In such cases, a surgical abortion procedure is necessary because the initial attempted abortion will cause severe harm to the developing fetus. In some cases, particularly if Mifepristone was used, this can also be a sign of a tubal pregnancy, which may require hospitalization, abdominal surgery, and, in rare cases, a hysterectomy due to uncontrollable bleeding.

About the expert

This extremely qualified, board certified Ob/Gyn specialist has remained in active practice for over 25 years, during which he has acquired membership in such prestigious professional societies as the American Gynecological and Laparascopic Society. Furthermore, he is the current director of several Ob/Gyn hospital departments including Robotic Gynecologic Surgery, and has published an extensive body of medical literature in his field.