Ambulatory legal abortion
Philip, J.
Ugeskrift for Laeger 140(44): 2727
1978
ISSN/ISBN: 0041-5782 PMID: 705930 Document Number: 126860
When abortion on demand was introduced in Denmark in 1972-73, the number of abortions increased from 13,000 to 28,000 over a period of 3 years. Similar developments have been observed in other countries. This increase in abortion seekers has led to technical innovations of the abortion operation, most notably outpatient abortion. The outpatient technique reduces the length of the hospital stay and allows more operations to be performed. The major difference between outpatient and hospitalized abortion operations is the type of anesthesia used. There is more bleeding during hospitalized abortion operations performed under general anesthesia. Reevacuation is more often necessary after the outpatient operations. These differences have little clinical significance. There is no increased incidence of complications associated with outpatient abortion.