ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: In Korea, approximately 600 thousand artificial abortions are done officially during the course of a year, and dilatation and curettage is commonly used as a method for selective abortion. In addition, because of the increasing use of hormone replacement therapy for treating postmenopausal syndrome and for the diagnostic purposes for postmenopausal bleeding, the importance of dilatation and curettage is emphasized more and more. Our objective was to verify the effects of delayed time between paracervical block and the procedure of dilatation and curettage on pain and patient satisfaction. METHODS: 92 women who underwent dilatation and curettage were picked and divided into 2 groups randomly. In group A there was no transit delay time between paracervical block and the procedure, and in group B, there was 5 minutes delay time. We used the VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) to measure numerical value of pain and patient satisfaction during uterine cervical dilatation, the actual procedure of curettage, and 30-45 minutes after the procedure. RESULTS: There was no statistically meaningful difference on the pain value and patient satisfaction between group A and group B measured during uterine cervix dilatation, curettage, and 30-45 minutes after the procedure. CONCLUSION: The transit delay time between paracervial anesthesia and dilatation and curettage had no specific effects on the pain or patient satisfaction of the procedure. Therefore, the main role of paracervical anesthesia is not to block the peripheral nerve, but instead to dilatate the tissue mechanically.