Comparison of procedure time between manual and electric vacuum aspiration for pregnancy termination between 10-14 weeks: A randomized trial.

OBJECTIVE

To measure the difference in procedure time between manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) and electric vacuum aspiration (EVA) during abortion procedures between 10 0/7 and 13 6/7 weeks gestation.

STUDY

DESIGN

We conducted a 1:1 randomized trial of individuals undergoing an abortion procedure between 10 0/7 and 13 6/7 weeks to MVA or EVA. Procedure time was the primary outcome. We performed an intention-to-treat analysis. A total of 132 patients (66 per arm) were needed to identify a 2-minute difference in time with 90% power and an alpha of 0.05. Given the non-parametric distribution of procedure times, we used Mann-Whitney U test to assess for differences in median procedure times.

RESULTS

We randomized 146 participants; 74 to MVA and 72 to EVA. Median procedure times were similar between the 2 groups; EVA 2.4 minutes (range 0.9-6.9 min) and MVA 2.6 minutes (range 1.1-9.0 min, p = 0.12). When stratified by gestational age, EVA between 12 0/7 and 13 6/7 weeks had a shorter median procedure time compared to MVA (2.5 min, range 1.4-6.9 min vs. 3.5 min range 1.7-9.0), respectively (p = 0.005). One conversion occurred from MVA to EVA at 13 weeks.

CONCLUSION

We found no difference in procedure time between MVA and EVA between 10 0/7 and 13 6/7 weeks gestation. MVA does take 1 minute longer than EVA when performed between 12 0/7-13 6/7 weeks; however, this difference is not likely be clinically significant.

IMPLICATIONS: Procedure times are similar for manual and electric vacuum aspiration for uterine evacuation between 10 and 14 weeks and the rate of conversion is low.