The 2019 published National Institute for Health and Care Excellence abortion care guidance (NG140) recommends that antibiotic prophylaxis is offered to women who are having a surgical abortion and, when using doxycycline, a 100 mg two times a day for 3 days should be considered. The rationale to the recommendation states ‘a three day course because this may be as effective and adherence is likely to be better with a shorter outcome’. This is a shorter duration than that presented as part of the consultation. Originally, ‘the committee agreed that 7 days of doxycycline should be considered as it would be sufficient to treat sexually transmitted infections (STIs), if present. Further, there was expert knowledge that there is no evidence of increased antimicrobial resistance (AMR) with 7 days, compared with 3 days, of treatment. This is also consistent with the UK national recommendations for treating chlamydia’.
The evidence review concluded that…