Objectives: We aimed to evaluate surgical abortion procedure time among obese women [body mass index (BMI) ≥30].
Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of women presenting for first- and second-trimester surgical abortion at Stanford Hospital and Clinics from 2013 to 2014. Primary outcome was total procedure time. Secondary outcomes included complication rates and estimated blood loss (EBL).
Results: Some 383 patients were included in the analysis, of which 61 (15.9%) were obese and 322 (84.1%) were nonobese. Mean gestational age was different between the obese and nonobese groups, 17.50 weeks (±3.95) and 16.07 weeks (±4.67), respectively (p=.01). Mean procedure times differed significantly between the nonobese (20.07 min, ±10.38) and obese (24.11 min, ±13.96) groups (p=.04). Complication rates did not differ significantly (p=1.00). EBL was different between groups (p=.002); 16% of nonobese patients had EBL ≥100 cc (n=51), whereas 36% of obese patients had EBL ≥100 cc (n=22). In multivariable analysis, only gestational age was a predictor of procedure time (p<.001), and BMI trended toward significance (p=.09); there were no differences in procedure time when controlling for parity (p=.91), age (p=.48) or previous cesarean section (p=.73).
Conclusions: These results suggest that surgical abortion remains a safe procedure for women with a BMI ≥30. Our results also suggest that obese women present at later gestations for abortion and longer procedure times may be associated with higher gestational age. Future research is needed to confirm this finding and identify ways to facilitate earlier presentation for abortion among obese women.
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© 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc.
