Nitrous oxide for pain management of first trimester surgical abortion - A randomized controlled pilot study

Objective The objective was to determine feasibility of a study comparing mean pain scores between women randomized to nitrous oxide/oxygen (NO) versus oxygen+oral analgesics for trimester surgical abortion. Study design Pilot randomized controlled trial comparing NO (n= 10) versus oxygen+oral analgesics (n= 10). Feasibility of subject recruitment, and pain and satisfaction scores on a visual analog scale were evaluated. Results Fifty-seven percent of eligible women participated. Mean pain scores were similar between groups, and mean satisfaction scores were higher for the NO group (77.5 vs. 46.7, P=.048). Conclusions The majority of eligible women agreed to participate in this study evaluating an uncommon pain control intervention.