Women's Experiences
The
Experiences of
Women Who Have Suffered Complications from their
Dilation and
Curettage Surgery
Note:
All of the women in the study had a
D&C, either
for a miscarriage or for retained placenta following the birth of a
child.
Twenty-three
women, who
underwent a D&C and suffered
complications from it, willingly filled out a questionnaire containing
thirteen
questions.
They submitted their
answers in
hopes that this process would help other women. Their answers were
analyzed to
find trends.
Three trends emerged.
In
response to, “How
many D&Cs have you had?” and “What
was the reason for your D&C?”, we learned that
one-third of
the women had
to have a repeat D&C.
- Five
of the women needed repeat
D&Cs due to incomplete D&Cs which left RPOC. This is
partly due
to the blind nature of the surgery; the doctor could not see what they
were doing, thus they left behind part of what should have been
removed. These retained products also resulted in severe infection in
the women, which required hospitalization.
- One
woman needed a D&C
following an improper suction after a C-section.
- One
woman unknowingly had two
D&Cs to incorrectly treat her Asherman’s Syndrome
which was
caused by a post partum D&C.
This comment from the OB
who performed the D&C highlights the problematic nature of this
blind
procedure: She was told, “I think I got it all. I
couldn’t
feel anything else
up there.” Della,
Florida,
USA
The
invasiveness of the procedure
is exposed by the
following comments by women who were conscious during the procedure
(all of these
women were treated for postpartum hemorrhage):
“The
operation was over an hour long and traumatic.” Sheila, Munich,
Germany
“I still
have flashbacks of watching the D&C; I wish
they knocked me out so I didn’t have to witness
it.” Katherine,
Florida,
USA
“I was
extremely uncomfortable during the procedure (much
more than during childbirth) and I felt incredibly violated.”
Anonymous, Scottsdale,
AZ,
USA
The
following comments were made in response
to the question,
“What did the doctor discuss with you before the
procedure?” Note
that general
practitioners and general surgeons
also perform D&Cs. In many communities dilation and curettage
is
not considered
to be a surgical procedure which requires the skill of a physician
trained in
pelvic surgery.
“They
told me not to be scared; a very good doctor will do
it. In fact, it wasn’t true. I discovered that it was a
student
(young doctor
in training) who did it.” Blanche,
Lyon,
France
“I now know that it was because there is so much possibility
of complications, but they never told me this. It is the failure of
doctors to
communicate all the possible outcomes of a procedure that upsets me the
most.” Terra,
Saskatchewan,
Canada
It
should be noted, that although this theme
did emerge
without prompting, that there are highly skilled doctors who perform
D&Cs,
and their patients may experience complications as well.
|