Table 2

.Efficacy of medical abortion

OutcomeCohort (n=663)*
n (%)
Complete abortion650 (98.0)
Ongoing pregnancy5 (0.8)
Incomplete abortion4 (0.6)
  • *The remaining four outcomes were: n=2 (0.3%) did not proceed to take the abortion medication and self-referred for antenatal care to continue the pregnancy. n=1 was presumed to have a caesarean scar ectopic pregnancy. She had an ultrasound at the hospital early pregnancy unit before referral for abortion that reported a small sac low within the uterus with a possible fetal pole. She re-presented 1 week after medical abortion with persisting pregnancy symptoms. A further ultrasound had unchanged findings and given her history of caesarean delivery, it was considered as a likely caesarean scar ectopic. She was managed by the hospital and treated uneventfully with methotrexate. n=1 reported no bleeding after medical abortion. She had an empty uterus on ultrasound 4 days following misoprostol and a negative serum human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), suggesting that she was probably never pregnant.