threatened abortion
Noun: A medical condition in early pregnancy characterized by symptoms such as vaginal bleeding, with or without abdominal cramping, that indicate a risk of miscarriage (spontaneous loss of the pregnancy) but where the cervix remains closed and the pregnancy is still viable.
This term is used specifically in a medical or clinical context to describe a specific diagnosis during pregnancy. - The patient was admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of threatened abortion. - Vaginal bleeding in the first trimester is often classified as a threatened abortion.
- Clinical Diagnosis: The term "threatened abortion" is a formal medical diagnosis used when a pregnant person experiences bleeding before 20 weeks of gestation, but no tissue has passed and the cervical os is closed on examination. It signifies that a miscarriage is possible but not inevitable.
- Distinction from Other Terms: It is distinct from an "inevitable abortion," "incomplete abortion," or "complete abortion," which describe different stages or outcomes of pregnancy loss.
- Threatened miscarriage: A more modern and commonly used synonym in many clinical settings.
- Abortion (in medical context): In medical terminology, "abortion" refers to the termination of a pregnancy, which can be spontaneous (miscarriage) or induced. "Threatened abortion" refers specifically to the risk of spontaneous abortion.
- Threatened miscarriage
It is critical to understand that in standard medical English, the word "abortion" alone can refer to either a spontaneous pregnancy loss (miscarriage) or a deliberate termination. The phrase "threatened abortion" refers exclusively to the warning signs of a potential spontaneous loss. The term does not imply any action or intent to end the pregnancy.
- the appearance of symptoms that signal the impending loss of the products of conception