Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Complications rela ted to induced abortion: A combined retrospective and longitudinal  
follow -up study  
 
Version: 1 Date: 13 Dec 2017  
 
Reviewer: Kirsten Black  
 
Reviewer's report:  
Thank you for manuscript. It is interesting and contains all the information required but it would 
benefit from substantial editing and the involvement of a native english speaker to review it line 
by line.  
I have the following specific comments;  
Abstract:  
the tense changes from past to present in the abstract - please be consistent  
The results are inconsis tent with the data in the tables  
Perhaps the aims should mention that the complications of medical and surgical abortion are to 
be considered separately?  
The last sentence of the conclusion could be a little more formal  
 
Background:  
There are a number of s yntax errors throughout  
1980s in numbers not words  
Bleeding not bleedings  
Bring up bacteria - suggest can be a nidus for infection  
Post abortal infections not post abort  
More likely to develop infertility - not more likely developing infertility  
Among women who present to the gynaecology clinic and not "among women who comes to the 
gynaecological clinic"  
There is too much detail in the introduction about individual infections. The background on this 
should be contained within one paragraph and doe s not need to go into the general incidence in 
the community. Ideally the background should be only 3 -4 paragraphs of the key issues to be 
explored.  
 
Methods  
"is one common unit which: - I don't understand what this means  
Bleeding  
This sentence needs rewor ding Only heavy bleedings right next to the abortion or long -standing 
bleedings (>21 days) was categorized as a bleeding complication  
 
Incomplete abortion  
The following needs rewording "If the vaginal ultrasound revealed uterine contents of 15 
millimeters or more, resembling of placental tissue, treatment with misoprostol could be 
performed."  
Analyses not analyze  
The following needs rewording "The data was collected into excel files and further analyzed by 
SPSS. Excel was used for creating charts and tables  for presentation  
 
Results.  
There are many sentences which need improvement in english language expression.  
The following needs rewording "The distribution of medical abortions by gestational weeks was 
examined. It has been an increase in the proportion of  medical abortions  
Detailed information on the excluded subjects is not required  
 
 
Discussion:  
Discuss the time frame of changes.  
The discussion again needs to much more focused around the key findings.  
There are numerous syntax errors - too many to list  
For example:  
'Since there is a significant increase of complications related to medical a comparison was made 
to see if there is any evident difference between patients undergoing abortion in 2008 - 2010 and 
2015.'  
There is inconsistent reporting of the compl ications - 8.4% in the abstract and 8.2% in the table 1.  
Conclusion  
This needs rewording  
"The share of complications related to medical abortion has increased significantly during 2008 -
2015. No evident cause was found but the increasing amount of medical abortions at home is 
believed to have an influence" I suggest to say the "The rate of comp lications associated with 
medical abortion rose from x in 2008 to x in 2015 (please note there is inconsistent reporting of 
this). The cause of this is unknown but it was associated with a shift from hospital to home 
medical abortions.  
 
Tables  
Table 1, 4 a nd 5 need to have the total number of procedures at the top on the column and 
remove the rows about number of procedures and combine the row of the number of 
complications the percentage  
Tables 2 and 3 can be described in the text and do not need to be st and alone tables  
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
Yes 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
Yes 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
Yes 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an 
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
I am able to assess the statistics  
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript : 
Not suitable for publication unless extensively edited  
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an 
organisation that may in  any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this 
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation that may in any way gain or lose 
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the content of the 
manuscript?  
4. Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds or has applied for patents relating to t he content of the manuscript?  
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing intere sts' 
below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
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