Iatrogenic Bowel injuries following D&C

Abstract

Iatrogenic bowel injuries are a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. Comparison of complicated cases of Dilatation and Curettage done in the hospital with those referred after some form of complication of the same procedure done outside the hospital revealed a significantly higher prevalence (p < 0.05) of bowel involvement amongst the referred cases. Post treatment results were encouraging and no maternal death occurred in the hospital operated group however 7 out of 40 mothers died amongst the referred group (p < 0.05). We reached at the conclusion that maternal morbidity and mortality due to bowel injuries can be lowered significantly by early surgical intervention and policy makers should take notice of this sensitive issue to abolish performance of this procedure by unqualified personnel and in unsupervised envoirment.