Saline abortion
| Background | |
| Abortion type | Surgical |
| First use | 1934 |
| Last use | Usage has declined in U.S. since the 1970s. |
| Gestation | 16-24 weeks |
| Usage | |
| United States | 0.9% (2003) |
Instillation abortion is a rarely used method of late term abortion, performed by injecting a solution into the uterus.
Instillation abortion is performed by injecting a chemical solution consisting of either saline, urea, or prostaglandin through the abdomen and into the amniotic sac. The cervix is dilated prior to the injection, and the chemical solution induces uterine contractions which expel the fetus. Sometimes a dilation and curettage procedure is necessary to remove any remaining fetal or placenta tissue.
Instillation methods can require hospitalization for 12 to 48 hours. In one study, when laminaria were used to dilate the cervix overnight, the time between injection and completion was reduced from 29 to 14 hours.
The method of instillation abortion was first developed in 1934 by Eugen Aburel. It is most frequently used between the 16th and 24th week of pregnancy, but its rate of use has declined dramatically in recent years. In 1968, abortion by the instillation of saline solution accounted for 28% of those procedures performed legally in San Francisco, California. Intrauterine instillation (of all kinds) declined from 10.4% of all legal abortions in the U.S. in 1972 to 1.7% in 1985, falling to 0.8% of the total incidence of induced abortion in the United States during 2002, and 0.1% in 2007.
In a 1998 Guttmacher Institute survey, sent to hospitals in Ontario, Canada, 9% of those hospitals in the province which offered abortion services used saline instillations, 4% used urea, and 25% used prostaglandin. A 1998 study of facilities in Nigeria which provide abortion found that only 5% of the total number in the country use saline.
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