Authors: Nathaniel David Adewole1
KEYWORDS: Foetal- Bone. Unsafe Abortion. Hysteroscopy
Abstract
This was an educated and financially stable single 26year old lady who had an unsafe abortion in the second trimester. She presented a year later with chronic abdominal pains, secondary dysmenorrhea, and occasional foul-smelling brownish vaginal discharge. A physical examination revealed moderate supra-pubic, right and left iliac fossa tenderness. The vagina was smeared with foul-smelling discharge. There was also cervical motion tenderness. A pelvic ultrasound scan revealed a foreign body in the endometrium. She was treated with antibiotics for pelvic inflammatory disease and subsequently, she had hysteroscopic removal of the foreign body which was histologically confirmed to be fetal bone. This case shows that unsafe abortion is not exclusively associated with illiteracy and poverty. There is a need to sensitize health workers to not use MVA or dilatation and curettage if the gestational age of the pregnancy is twelve weeks and above.