Medical Student Research Forum Posters

Post-abortion hemorrhage occurs in about 1 in every 1000 patients and is highly associated with severe morbidities. Hemorrhage is defined variably across studies, including a range of amounts during a procedure (250 mL or 500 mL), an amount (1000 mL) within a 24- hour period, or specific outcomes such as hospitalization or blood transfusion. No standard hemorrhage “definition” has been elucidated, primarily due to the lack of any studies investigating the correlation of blood loss to clinically relevant outcomes. A clear definition would help standardize future research on procedural morbidity as well as interventions to decrease significant blood loss. This study aims to identify a quantitative blood loss during dilation and evacuation (D&E) procedures that correlates with clinically relevant outcomes to allow a clearer definition of “hemorrhage” as a procedural complication. We hypothesized that there will be a correlation between of quantitative blood loss (QBL) and the rate of postprocedure interventions needed to prevent/manage bleeding.