Abstract
Objective
Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) is a well-established management option for early pregnancy
loss or early termination of pregnancy. MVA is performed as out-patient surgical procedure
using local anaesthetic whereby aspiration of uterine contents is achieved through
use of a hand-held negative pressure syringe. Ireland’s first MVA service was established
at the Rotunda Hospital Dublin in April 2020,. The purpose of this study was to gather
feedback from women who had undergone MVA in the unit.
Study design
Prospective mixed methods study of women attending for uterine aspiration under local
anaesthetic from July to October 2020 in the unit. Consenting women were contacted
one week following MVA via telephone. The survey conducted consisted of structured
closed questions along with open-ended questions, to assess womens satisfaction in
relation to all aspects of the MVA service.
Results
Nineteen women took part in the study, a response rate of 86.4%. Participants reported
feeling well informed prior to attending for MVA. Prior to the procedure, pain expectation
scores were high but actual reported pain scores were much lower. Although some participants
did find MVA uncomfortable, the fact the procedure was very quick and the side effects
so minimal generally negated this. The location and set up of the clinic scored highly
among participants as did the staff of the clinic. Overall satisfaction with the MVA
service was high with 84.2% of participants reporting they would opt again for MVA
in the future.
Conclusions
Women living in Ireland are interested and agreeable with having Manual Vacuum Aspiration
as an available option for management of early pregnancy complications. Consideration
should be given to expansion of MVA services nationally.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 13, 2021
Accepted:
September 8,
2021
Received in revised form:
August 30,
2021
Received:
May 8,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
