| Abstract: | All women who were admitted to the Felix Bulnes Hospital, Santiaog, Chile, for incomplete abortion between July 1968 and June 1969 were given instruction in family planning and contraceptive services. A total of 584 women chose to have an IUD insertion. Although all the women thought they had received an IUD, 1 group had a Lippes loop D inserted immediately after curettage and the other group had no insertion. The attending doctor had no prior knowledge as to which women were to receive the device nor did the doctor at the follow-up know until after the physical exam had taken place. 30 days after discharge from the hospital, the women returned from check-up and follow-up. At this time the women who had not received an IUD were given an insertion. Differences between the group with insertion and the one without were significant only for the interval between curettage and first menses and for the quantity of flow in relation to previous menstruation. The difference between the 2 groups for duration of menstrual flow was of borderline significance at the .05 significance level. It is concluded from the study that in the absence of psychologi cal bias of the patient to the IUD insertion, and possibly bias in its use by the doctor, there are no serious complications in the first month following immediate postabortal IUD insertion even where the abortion was a septic incomplete one. |
