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Home › Articles › Miscarriage › What's a D&C?

What's a D&C?

The Ins and Outs of Dilation and Curettage

By Kelly Burgess

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What's a D&C?-The Ins and Outs of Dilation and CurettageThe medical procedure known as dilation and curettage (D&C) is not used as commonly today as it has been in the past, but it still has an important place in gynecological medicine. Used for a variety of purposes, an important one is to assist women in managing a miscarriage.

Dr. Edward Lazarus, clinical assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, says D&C is a good choice for a woman who has experienced a miscarriage. It's safe, effective and can help shorten the whole sad process of a pregnancy coming to an end.

D&C Facts
Dilation, quite simply, means to enlarge the opening of the uterus, and curettage means to scrape the tissue. Today, suction is used more commonly than scraping, as it's considered safer.

The D&C is an old procedure, says Dr. Lazarus, and has historically been one of the most common gynecological surgical procedures. "We still use D&C to assess abnormal bleeding in a gynecological patient, and to find polyps and cancer and all kinds of things," he says. "It's not used as commonly to manage a miscarriage as it used to be, because we have ways to do that now that are less invasive, but it's still a great option in many cases."

The Advantages
The advantages of having a D&C are both physical and emotional. On the physical side, it can lessen the length of time for the bleeding and cramping associated with miscarriage. On the emotional side, it simply ends it without dragging out a painful episode any longer than necessary. As Dr. Lazarus points out, most miscarriages occur very early in the pregnancy, but the body may not expel the fetus until up to three months or so. Since ultrasounds can now detect fetal viability, or the lack thereof, earlier than ever, the impending miscarriage may be diagnosed weeks before the fetus is naturally expelled. Waiting for that to happen, coupled with the knowledge of loss, can be traumatic for the mother.


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