A New Choice for Women: Sterilization Without Surgery

Most women seeking to be sterilized now have their fallopian tubes “tied” or blocked, which involves surgery and 4 to 6 days of recovery. The FDA-approved sterilization device — Conceptus Inc.’s Essure — uses a tiny group of coils to sterilize a woman without surgery. The Essure method is an irreversible form of contraception that requires no incision and only a local anesthetic.

According to British researchers, placement of the device that effectively sterilizes a woman can be performed safely and effectively on an outpatient basis without general anesthesia or sedation, with high rates of patient satisfaction.

Dr. T. Justin Clark and colleagues at Birmingham Women’s Hospital report their experience with the procedure in 112 women, in the June issue of the medical journal BJOG.

The physician inserts one of the devices into each of the two fallopian tubes. This is done with a catheter that is inserted through the vagina into the uterus, and then into the fallopian tube. Successful placement of the device was achieved in 92 percent of cases and was deemed optimal in 88 percent. The complications seen in 5 percent of patients were mainly minor reactions, and all of the patients were discharged within 4 hours of their procedure.

To date, no pregnancies have been reported.

Survey responses showed that the women were satisfied and, in fact, most reported being “very satisfied” with the procedure. -> Read more

References:
Transcervical Female Sterilization
Transcervical Sterilization: A New Choice for Women