How will I know if I am having some type of complication with the medical abortion (abortion pill) procedure?

The complications that are seen with the abortion pill procedure are the following which occur less than 1%:

  1. Heavy Bleeding. This occurs less than 1 percent of the time and usually resolves almost immediately when a surgical D&C is performed. It is very rare that a blood transfusion is required.
  2. Prolonged Bleeding. Bleeding with the abortion pill normally lasts anywhere from 5 days to 2 weeks. It can last more than 30 days but this is seen in less than 1 percent of cases.
  3. Severe cramps. This can indicate that there is retained tissue (incomplete abortion) in which additional Misoprostol is used or a surgical D&C is performed to remove any remaining tissue.
  4. Elevated temperature. Usually with an elevated temperature there is pelvic pain and possibly cramps. This indicates a high probability of infection. Patients are normally given a course of antibiotics and a surgical D&C.
  5. No bleeding or cramping. The number one reason for the absence of bleeding and cramping is a failed procedure. There is a choice of repeating the Misoprostol dosage or having a surgical D&C performed.

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