Can I die from heavy bleeding from medical abortion?

Many adults will inevitably mention pregnancy when discussing and chatting. Nowadays, pregnancy is no longer a rare or embarrassing thing. However, if you do not want to continue the pregnancy, you can choose to have an abortion. Once you choose medical abortion, you will take very great risks, and it will also cause great harm to the human body. So, will you die from heavy bleeding due to medical abortion?

Advantages of medical abortion

The biggest advantage of medical abortion is that it can avoid surgical abortion and reduce the occurrence of abortion complications such as uterine perforation and surgical abortion syndrome. If medical abortion is successful, it can also reduce the damage to the endometrium caused by intrauterine surgery and reduce the occurrence of complications such as postoperative oligomenorrhea and intrauterine adhesions. For cases such as scarred uterus, lactating uterus, uterine malformation, etc. that are not suitable for surgical abortion, medical abortion is also a better choice.

Can I have an abortion with medicine as long as the test is positive?

Medical abortion is suitable for intrauterine pregnancy. First, an ultrasound examination must be performed to confirm that the gestational sac is within the uterine cavity. However, when the urine HCG test is positive or the pregnancy is discovered through a blood test, the gestational sac cannot be seen even with an ultrasound examination because the menstrual period is relatively short. Through B-ultrasound examination, the earliest time to see the gestational sac in the uterine cavity is about 5 weeks of pregnancy. If ovulation is delayed in women with irregular menstruation, the time to see the gestational sac and confirm intrauterine pregnancy will be delayed.

Although the earlier the medical abortion is performed, the higher the success rate, medication can only be taken after confirming that it is an intrauterine pregnancy and excluding ectopic pregnancy. So it doesn’t mean you can take medicine as soon as you find out you are pregnant.

Risks of medical abortion

Medical abortion seems simple. It does not require any surgery. Just taking medicine can solve the problem in three days. But in fact, medical abortion still has many risks.

1. Incomplete medical abortion: As mentioned earlier, the success rate of medical abortion is 95%, which means that about 5% of women may experience incomplete medical abortion and need another uterine curettage. Moreover, the failure rate may increase with the increase of gestational age.

2. Vaginal bleeding: Incomplete medical abortion may cause bleeding. If the embryonic tissue necrotizes and falls off, but cannot be discharged from the uterine cavity, it will get stuck at the cervical opening, which will affect uterine contraction and cause persistent vaginal bleeding that cannot be stopped. In severe cases, hemorrhagic shock or even death may occur.

3. Adverse drug reactions: When using medical abortion drugs, due to the effects of the drugs themselves, patients may experience gastrointestinal reactions such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and may also experience discomfort in the hands and feet, fever, numbness, etc. However, these are normal reactions to the drug and will be relieved soon.

4. Long duration of vaginal bleeding: Compared with artificial abortion, medical abortion causes longer vaginal bleeding and increases the risk of infection.

Contraindications of medical abortion

Contraindications to medical abortion include: abnormal heart, liver, and kidney function and adrenal cortex insufficiency, patients receiving long-term corticosteroid treatment, ectopic pregnancy, pregnancy with an implanted device (some studies suggest that pregnancy with an implanted device can also use medical abortion drugs under the close monitoring and guidance of a doctor), and patients allergic to prostaglandins, glaucoma, and asthma.