Miscarriage

The incidence of miscarriage decreases with increasing gestational age. Septic abortion is considered a complication of miscarriage. When considering clinical and subclinical pregnancies, approximately 50% of all pregnancies will end in miscarriage. Miscarriage is a nonspecific term used to describe the spontaneous failure of an intrauterine pregnancy prior to the 20th week of gestation. On occasion, it is useful to further classify miscarriages as early or late, according to whether they occur before or after the 12th week of gestation. The majority of these miscarriages are caused by chromosome abnormalities that make it impossible for the fetus to develop normally. History of a prior miscarriage should always be explored as part of the evaluation of the patient&s;s obstetrical history. Surgical management can be offered for miscarriages of all gestational ages. Surgical management of miscarriage carries some of the same risks as medical management but also additional surgical risk to the patient.