Therapeutic abortion is subdivided into surgical (instrumental removal of gestational sac) and medical therapeutic abortion.
2.1. SURGICAL ABORTION AT AN EARLY GESTATIONAL AGE
Definition. Artificial abortion is surgery or medical intervention aimed at termination of pregnancy at a term before 21 weeks gestation, which is performed either at the request of the woman or for medical reasons due to maternal or fetal factors. By the request of a woman, abortion is performed only in the early stages of pregnancy - up to 12 weeks. At this gestational age, it is still possible to remove the gestational sac with a lower risk of complications. After 13 weeks (late abortion) the number of possible complications increases.
Artificial abortion is always an undesirable operation, as it has an adverse effect on the woman?s reproductive function and health, causing infertility, miscarriage, and neuroendocrine disorders. Abortion is among the leading causes in the structure of maternal mortality. The rate of various complications during and after abortion is 16-52%. The termination of the first pregnancy, which happens in 30-36% of women, is especially dangerous. Among them, a significant proportion is young women aged 14-17 years, who fall into the adolescent category. They are at an age when a complex neuroendocrine regulation of female reproductive function is being formed, and its sudden disruption often leads to irreversible consequences. A long list of obstetric and gynecological problems starts with abortion or spontaneous miscarriage, which can become especially unfavorable if complicated by sexually transmitted infection.
There are two groups of methods for terminating an unwanted pregnancy in the early stages: surgical and therapeutic (medical) abortion.