Does Oral Midazolam Reduce Anxiety and Pain with First-Trimester Surgical Abortion?

Most first-trimester surgical abortions involve suction curettage under local anesthesia, and many women are anxious about the potential for pain. In a double-blind study of the potent, rapid-onset, short-acting benzodiazepine midazolam, investigators randomized 124 women (mean age, 25; 70% white; 57% nulliparous) presenting for first-trimester abortion (mean gestational age, 8 weeks) to 10 mg of oral midazolam or placebo 30 to 60 minutes before suction curettage. All participants also received 800 mg of oral ibuprofen ≥60 minutes preoperatively, and curettage was performed following paracervical block. Pain was self-reported using a 100-mm visual analog scale (0 mm=no pain, 100 mm=worst imaginable pain). Anxiety was assessed using validate…