Summary Termination of pregnancy was performed under local anaesthesia as an outpatient procedure on 251 patients. The gestational ages ranged from 5 to 12 weeks. Either the portable Karman curette equipment or the syringe kits were used. The incidence of complications was low. Only 6 per cent of patients would have preferred general anaesthesia. The optimal gestational age at which to terminate pregnancies appeared to be between 6 and 10 weeks. Ninety‐one per cent of patients used effective contraception after the termination.

Summary One hundred patients with an incomplete abortion, 14 patients with retained products of conception after a second trimester termination, 5 patients with missed abortion and 2 patients with secondary postpartum haemorrhages (making a total of 121 patients) had a uterine evacuation in a treatment room using the portable Karman curette equipment. No general anaesthesia was used but patients were given intravenous pethidine or papavaretum (Omnopon) and diazepam. Four patients found the procedure painful but only two of them would have preferred general anaesthesia. There were no immediate complications but three patients required re‐evacuation of the uterus.