Potential pathogens in the lower genital tract at manual vacuum aspiration for incomplete abortion in Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the carriage rates of potential pathogens in the lower genital tract and factors associated with colonization among women with incomplete abortion.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

SETTING

The Manual Vacuum Aspiration room of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana.

SUBJECTS: Two hundred women undergoing Manual Vacuum Aspiration at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

METHODS

Eligible patients were screened for the presence of organisms in the lower genital tract by microscopy and culture of high vaginal and endocervical swabs.

RESULTS

Nearly two-thirds of the patients (64.2%) had potential pathogens in the lower genital tract. Bacterial vaginosis alone was present in 47% and a combination of bacterial vaginosis and Candida albicans was present in 17.2%. Residence in an urban slum showed a significant association with the presence of potential pathogens (Odds ratio 2.6; p-value 0.04).

CONCLUSION

Organisms responsible for bacterial vaginosis were the most frequently isolated potential pathogens in the cervical canal of patients with incomplete abortion at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. Management of these patients should therefore include antibiotic prophylaxis against bacterial vaginosis.