Identification and treatment of intra-abdominal fetal skeletal remains: A consequence of illicit and unsafe abortion.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The safety of abortions has always been a matter of concern for women's health. Unsafe abortion is one of the most neglected health-care problems in developing countries due to lack of awareness of the legal issues and limited access to authorised services often leading the women to poor quality of abortion in unsafe settings through untrained health personnel. CASE REPORT Two rare cases of second trimester unsafe abortions are reported here in which women presented after several weeks with well-preserved remains of fetal skeleton in their abdomen along with complicated multiple visceral injuries. Both these second trimester abortions were performed by untrained village abortionists for sex selection and unwanted pregnancy in an unmarried adolescent girl. The management in the unmarried girl was further complicated due to undisclosed history of abortion. CONCLUSION: These reports of unsafe abortion highlight the need for clinicians to have a high index of suspicion for an undisclosed abortion when treating any morbid woman of reproductive age with a bizarre abdominal clinical picture.