The predictors of retained products of conception following first-trimester pregnancy termination with manual vacuum aspiration

OBJECTIVE: To identify the risk factors associated with retained products of conception (RPC) following first-trimester pregnancy termination with manual vacuum aspiration (MVA). METHODS: We analyzed 1623 patients who underwent MVA during the first 9 weeks of their pregnancies in SSK Aegean Obstetrics and Gynecology Teaching Hospital Department of Family Planning in between February 2001 and January 2004. RESULTS: A total of 81 patients (5%) had RPC after MVA. We found that RPC after MVA were significantly associated with patient's age (P = 0.026), body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.017), and week of gestation applied MVA (P = 0.012); but not associated with parity (P = 0.063), history of previous MVA (P = 0.845), and history of previous miscarriage (P = 0.918). CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that the frequency of RPC after MVA has been affected by current pregnancy-related factors such as patient age, BMI, and gestational age rather than the prior obstetric history of the patients.