A Pilot Study of Guided Conservative Hysteroscopic Evacuation of Early Miscarriage.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate initial feasibility and experience with guided hysteroscopic morcellation for uterine evacuation of early miscarriage. DESIGN: A prospective pilot study of 10 cases. SETTING: A tertiary university hospital in Israel. PATIENTS: Women with confirmed early miscarriage at a gestational age of below 10 weeks from the last menstrual period. INTERVENTIONS: From May 2020 to October 2020, the hysteroscopic TruClear tissue removal system (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) was used for evacuation of early miscarriage in 10 women. The procedures were recorded. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Data including the length of the procedure, visibility, complete evacuation, bleeding, complications, and follow-up ultrasonography (US) were recorded. The mean duration of the procedure was 24 minutes. Complete evacuation was recorded in all cases. No adverse events were recorded in any of the 10 procedures. Normal uterine cavity without evidence of retained products of conception was documented in follow-up evaluation by US in all cases. Four patients underwent a follow-up office hysteroscopy that demonstrated a normal cavity without evidence of adhesions. In 4 cases (40%), an additional suction curettage was performed immediately after the hysteroscopic procedure owing to obscured visibility or an abnormal US scan at the end of the procedure. However, retained products of conception were found in only 1 of these 4 suction specimens (25%). CONCLUSION: Hysteroscopic morcellation under vision seems to be a safe and feasible technique for management of early missed abortion. This method may have potential as an innovative treatment of miscarriage in selected cases. Further studies are needed to refine the indications and the surgical technique.

Accidental fetal decapitation: a case of medical and ethical mishap.

Blunt trauma to the head and neck of a newborn during delivery process is a rare event. We report a peculiar case of decapitation of a live fetus during vacuum-assisted delivery, where excessive traction on the head of the full-term macrosomic fetus with shoulder dystocia resulted in overstretching of the neck up to the point of decapitation. The ethical considerations related to the case are discussed in light of the policy of complete transparency advocated by the medical profession. Despite the existence of regulations regarding full disclosure of errors to the medical institution, the Ministry of Health and to the patient, medical practitioners are reluctant to divulge all the details of adverse events to the patient.