Intrauterine fluid instillation to confirm tubal occlusion after transcervical permanent contraception: A pilot study.

OBJECTIVES: To determine if women with tubal patency experience more fluid loss compared to those with bilateral tubal occlusion following intrauterine instillation of fluid via a balloon catheter. STUDY DESIGN: In this prospective cohort pilot study, we enrolled women with prior Essure® procedures and healthy controls from September 2016 to July 2017. We excluded women using an implant or intrauterine device, or with a prior cesarean delivery or permanent contraception procedures other than Essure®. An infusion pump delivered saline via balloon catheter under continuous pressure monitoring. After one minute, we withdrew the fluid and recorded volumes in and out. Subjects then underwent hysterosalpingogram for evaluation of tubal patency. We conducted crude analyses with t-tests and sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: We recruited 23 participants; ten provided analyzable data in each group. Hysterosalpingogram confirmed patency in all control and occlusion in all post-Essure® subjects in the analysis group. We found the median volume of saline lost among control subjects [7.8 mL (7.4, 8.4)] larger than post-Essure® participants [2.2 mL (2.0, 3.8), p < 0.01]. While 50% of control subjects tolerated the full 10 mL of fluid instillation, none of the post-Essure® subjects tolerated this volume (p = 0.03). A combination of saline loss ≤4 mL and participant intolerance of the full 10 mL volume yielded sensitivity of 0.80 (95% CI: 0.57, 1.00) and specificity of 1.00 for bilateral tubal occlusion. CONCLUSION: Instillation of a fixed volume into the uterus may discriminate between women with tubal patency and occlusion following permanent contraception procedures with high specificity and adequate sensitivity. These findings should be validated in larger, more diverse study populations. IMPLICATIONS: Confirmation of tubal occlusion following permanent contraception with an office-based approach could improve acceptability of transcervical approaches. The recent removal of Essure® from the U.S. market increases the need for novel transcervical procedures and occlusion verification methods.

ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 208: Benefits and Risks of Sterilization.

Female and male sterilization are both safe and effective methods of permanent contraception used by more than 220 million couples worldwide (). Approximately 600,000 tubal occlusions and 200,000 vasectomies are performed in the United States annually (2-4). For women seeking permanent contraception, sterilization obviates the need for user-dependent contraception throughout their reproductive years and provides an excellent alternative for those with medical contraindications to reversible methods. The purpose of this document is to review the evidence for the safety and effectiveness of female sterilization in comparison with male sterilization and other forms of contraception.

The Relations Between HSG Proven Tubal Occlusion, Stimulated Intrauterine Insemination and Pregnancy Rate.

BACKGROUND: Tubal factor infertility is one of the main causes of female infertility. Although its sensitivity is low, hysterosalpingography (HSG) is remains the first-line method for evaluating tubal patency. AIMS: To compare pregnancy rates in patients with HSG proven proximal or distal unilateral tubal occlusion, and unexplained infertility undergoing both controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) and intrauterine insemination (IUI). STUDY DESIGN: Case control study. METHODS: In total, 237 patients undergoing ovulation induction (OI) with gonadotropins and IUI were divided into two groups and evaluated. Study group consisted 59 patients with HSG proven unilateral tubal pathology, and 178 patients with unexplained infertility taken as control subjects. Cumulative pregnancy rate was the primary endpoint. RESULTS: Cumulative pregnancy rates after three cycles of OI and IUI were 15.25% in study group and 20.79% in control group. Pregnancy rates between two groups were not statistically significant. Although, pregnancy rates in patients with proximal tubal occlusion (21.8%) were higher than in those with distal tubal occlusion (7.4%), the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Our study data shows that, regardless of the HCG proven occlusion area, COS and IUI might be a preferred treatment modality in patient with unilateral tubal occlusion.

Optimizing tubal ligation service delivery: a prospective cohort study to measure the task-sharing experience of Marie Stopes International Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian government implements a progressive task-sharing policy for health services as a strategy to address shortages of highly skilled providers and increase access to critical services, such as family planning. Since 2009, Marie Stopes International Ethiopia has trained health officers to provide tubal ligations, a permanent method of family planning, as part of its task-sharing strategy. The objectives of this research were to evaluate task-sharing tubal ligations to health officers at Marie Stopes International Ethiopia, specifically: (a) to investigate safety, as measured by the proportion of major adverse events; (b) to evaluate the feasibility, as measured by adherence to the standard tubal ligation procedure protocol and (c) to investigate acceptability to clients of the tubal ligation procedure provided by health officers. We established a prospective cohort of women aged ≥18 years presenting for tubal ligation at Marie Stopes International Ethiopia sites in three regions in Ethiopia (March­May 2014). Data on adverse events (incomplete procedure, pain, bleeding, infection, perforation) were collected intra-operatively; peri-operatively (1-h post-procedure); and post-operatively (7 days post-procedure). To measure feasibility, 65% of procedures were selected for 'audit', where a nurse observed and scored health officers adherence to standard protocol using an 18-item checklist. To assess acceptability, women were asked about their satisfaction with the procedure. In total, 276 women were enrolled in the study. 97.5% of procedures took place in rural settings. All participants were followed up 7 days post-procedure (100% response rate). The overall proportion of major adverse events was 3% (95% CI 1­6%). The most frequent adverse event was 'failure to complete the TL' (2.2%, n = 6). The average score on protocol adherence was 96.9%. Overall, 98.2% (n = 271) of clients would recommend the procedure to a friend. Findings from this study, indicating safety, feasibility and acceptability, are consistent with the existing literature, which indicate safety and acceptability for task-sharing tubal ligations, and other methods of contraception with non-physician health providers. This study adds to scant literature on task-sharing tubal ligations in rural and low-resource settings.

Health care justice and its implications for current policy of a mandatory waiting period for elective tubal sterilization.

Tubal sterilization during the immediate postpartum period is 1 of the most common forms of contraception in the United States. This time of the procedure has the advantage of 1-time hospitalization, which results in ease and convenience for the woman. The US Collaborative Review of Sterilization Study indicates the high efficacy and effectiveness of postpartum tubal sterilization. Oral and written informed consent is the ethical and legal standard for the performance of elective tubal sterilization for permanent contraception for all patients, regardless of source of payment. Current health care policy and practice regarding elective tubal sterilization for Medicaid beneficiaries places a unique requirement on these patients and their obstetricians: a mandatory waiting period. This requirement originates in decades-old legislation, which we briefly describe. We then introduce the concept of health care justice in professional obstetric ethics and explain how it originates in the ethical concepts of medicine as a profession and of being a patient and its deontologic and consequentialist dimensions. We next identify the implications of health care justice for the current policy of a mandatory 30-day waiting period. We conclude that Medicaid policy allocates access to elective tubal sterilization differently, based on source of payment and gender, which violates health care justice in both its deontologic and consequentialist dimensions. Obstetricians should invoke health care justice in women's health care as the basis for advocacy for needed change in law and health policy, to eliminate health care injustice in women's access to elective tubal sterilization.

Hysteroscopic sterilization in the office setting.

Hysteroscopic sterilization is growing in popularity. Nearly 500,000 women have been sterilized using this method, and an increasing number of physicians are now performing this procedure in the office setting. The office setting can provide a cost-effective, convenient, and safe environment for hysteroscopic sterilization. Patients may benefit from avoiding hospital preoperative visits, excessive laboratory evaluation, operating room wait times, and expense associated with hospital care. Physicians may improve productivity through remaining in their office or avoiding operating room delays. This article reviews office-hysteroscopic sterilization with the Essure microinsert system.

Essure transcervical tubal sterilization: a 5-year x-ray follow up.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the x-ray appearance of Essure microinserts 5 years after their insertion. DESIGN: Prospective controlled study. SETTING: Tertiary referral centers for gynecologic care. PATIENT(S): Forty-five consecutive women with successful hysteroscopic bilateral placement of the Essure devices and postprocedure satisfactory hysterosalpingography confirmation test. INTERVENTION(S): Pelvic anteroposterior x-ray. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Stability and and symmetric appearance of Essure microinsert positions; measurement of the intrauterine distance between the two devices. RESULT(S): After 5 years from their placement, no detachment nor fracture of devices was observed. x-Ray recognition of the device after 5 years showed findings similar to those recorded at 3 months' follow-through hysterosalpingography. CONCLUSION(S): x-Ray evaluation of findings related to stability of position, symmetric appearance, and distance between the two Essure microinserts corroborates the irreversibility and the reliability of the fibrotic reaction that ensured tubal occlusion after devices placement.

Ruta crítica para la realización de ligadura tubaria: estudio en un hospital público en la ciudad de Buenos Aires / Critical route for the realization of tubal ligation: study at a public hospital in the city of Buenos Aires

La existencia de brechas entre el marco legal en salud sexual y reproductiva y la puesta en práctica en las realidades sanitarias locales de las políticas públicas relativas a la ligadura tubaria en particular constituye un tema crucial para la Salud Pública de la Argentina. Objetivo general: describir los factores que impulsaron u obstaculizaron la ruta crítica que realizaron las mujeres gran multíparas para ejercer el derecho a solicitar la ligadura tubaria. Material y métodos: el diseño fue exploratorio descriptivo. Se realizaron entrevistas en profundidad y se administró un cuestionario sociodemográfico a una muestra intencional de 30 usuarias gran multíparas que solicitaron la anticoncepción quirúrgica durante el período: agosto de 2009 - enero de 2010, en el Área de Salud Sexual y Reproductiva del Hospital Materno Infantil Ramón Sardá de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. Resultados: 17 de las entrevistadas había solicitado la ligadura tubaria previamente. Del total, 22 entrevistadas iniciaron el recorrido cursando un embarazo no deseado y 9 pensaron en recurrir a un aborto inseguro, entre las cuales 5 averiguaron al respecto y 1 lo intentó. Conclusiones: Se espera que los resultados sean de utilidad para el diseño de estrategias intersectoriales efectivas que permitan monitorear el cumplimiento de la ley nacional Nº 26.130 con el fin de garantizar el acceso oportuno a la ligadura tubaria, y disminuir las iniquidades relativas a brechas territoriales, institucionales y obstáculos simbólicos y epistemológicos, a nivel sanitario, en la Argentina.

The existence of great gaps between the legal frame of the sexual and reproductive health system and the implementation of public policies in relation to tubal sterilization within the reality of local health institutions is a matter of crucial issue for Public Health of Argentina. General objective: To describe the factors that motivate or prevent the beginning of the critical path that grand multiparous women took in order to excercise their right to petition tubal sterilization. Methods and materials: The design was descriptive exploratory. Interviews in depth were conducted and a sociodemographic questionnaire was used over an in tentional sample of thirty grand multiparous women who arrived to the Reproductive and Sexual Health Area of the Ramón Sardá Hospital in the City of Buenos Aires asking for tubal sterilization during August 2009-January 2010. Results: 17 women had preaviously asked for tubal sterilization, and 22 out of the total number initiated the whole process with an unwanted pregnancy; and 9 women considered an unsafe abortion, 5 of them did research about it and 1 tried it. Conclusions: It is expected that the results shall be useful for the design and implementation of effective strategies that allow to monitor the enforcement of the national law N° 26.130 for the purpose of guaranteeing access to tubal sterilization, and to decrease inequality in relation to territorial and institutional gaps, as well as symbolic obstacles in Argentina.

Contraceptive sterilization use among married men in the United States: results from the male sample of the National Survey of Family Growth.

BACKGROUND: Surgical sterilization has many advantages. Previous information on prevalence and correlates was based on surveys of women. STUDY DESIGN: We estimated the prevalence of vasectomy and tubal ligation of partners for male participants in the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, a nationally representative survey of US residents aged 15-44 years. We identified factors associated with sterilizations using bivariate and multivariate techniques. RESULTS: The findings revealed that 13.3% of married men reported having had a vasectomy and 13.8% reported tubal sterilization in their partners. Vasectomy increased with older age and greater number of biological children, non-Hispanic white ethnicity, having ever gone to a family planning clinic. Tubal sterilization use was more likely among men who had not attended college, those of older age and those with live births. DISCUSSION: One in eight married men reported having vasectomies. Men who rely on vasectomies have a somewhat different profile than those whose partners have had tubal sterilizations.

Hysteroscopic sterilization in a large group practice: experience and effectiveness.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate device placement and tubal occlusion rates for hysteroscopic sterilization and evaluate risk factors for failure. METHODS: Women undergoing hysteroscopic sterilization at Kaiser Permanente Northern California from January 2004 to December 2006 were identified. Risk factors assessed included age, parity, body mass index (BMI), operative location, and provider experience with the technique. Occlusion was determined by hysterosalpingogram. Univariable analyses were performed to identify factors predictive of successful placement and occlusion. The Cochrane-Armitage test was performed for trend analysis. RESULTS: Hysteroscopic sterilization was attempted in 884 women by 118 physicians at 30 Kaiser Permanente Northern California facilities. The initial placement attempt was successful in 850 patients (96.2%). Patient age, nulliparity, and BMI were not predictive of successful placement. Bilateral occlusion was demonstrated by hysterosalpingogram in 687 of 739 patients (93.0%). There were no significant differences in age, nulliparity, and BMI between those with and without occlusion. Loss to follow-up before a hysterosalpingogram was obtained was 13%. There was no significant increase in occlusion rate with experience (P for trend=.6). CONCLUSION: High placement and occlusion rates were noted from the first insertions, and success was not related to age, parity, BMI, or operator experience. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

[State of the art about teaching hysteroscopy to gynaecologist surgeons in France and in Europe. CONFORM investigation into the training of the hysteroscopic placement of microinserts]. / Etat des lieux de la formation des chirurgiens gynécologues à l'hystéroscopie en France et en Europe. Enquête CONFORM sur la formation à la mise en place des implants de stérilisation tubaire par voie transcervicale.

OBJECTIVE: Since 2002, Conceptus company markets in France and Europe the Essure microinsert as permanent hysteroscopic intratubal sterilization, and organizes a meeting, a training and an assistance on a few cases. The data from this interview and the results of the first cases done with assistance of Conceptus instructors were collected prospectively between January 2004 to December 2006. The purpose is to make a state of the art about teaching hysteroscopy to gynaecologist surgeons in France and in Europe. PATIENTS AND METHODS: According to their statements about their knowledge of hysteroscopy practice, surgeons were classified in four groups. Group 1 included those who had a bad knowledge and a sporadic practice, group 2 those who had no formation and an empirical practice, group 3 those who had a regular practice and an incomplete formation or whose formation was in progress and group 4 those with fully-formed surgeons with a regular practice. RESULTS: One thousand one hundred and fourty-four women underwent hysteroscopic sterilisation with a global success rate of 92.13%. Were included 536 surgeons and 498 were evaluated. There were 80 (16.06%) surgeons in group 1, 149 (29.92%) in group 2, 121 (24.30%) in group 3 and 148 (29.72%) in group 4. Failure rates for each group were respectively 16.25%, 10.07%, 9.10% and 4.73% (p < or = 0.01). The presence of an instructor was associated with a fast improvement judging from the classification in a higher level group in 47.83%, 28.21% and 25% respectively for the groups 1 to 3 after the second visit and in 75%, 58.33% and 20% after the third visit. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: It seems important to establish a modern and low-cost teaching program to improve surgeon's theoretical and practical formation in hysteroscopy in order to increase success rates and reduce possible complications. Theoretical formation has to include a good knowledge of the material and its use: diameter and form of the operative channel, obliquity of the scope, liquid of distension and kind of current used. Practical formation could be done at once with virtual models to get used with the manipulation of the scope and thanks to the use of different currents with the assistance of a trained surgeon.

Motivos de solicitud de la ligadura tubaria: estudio exploratorio desde la perspectiva de las usuarias gran multíparas que asisten a un hospital público de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires / Motives of request of the tubal ligation: exploratory study from the perspectives of the users great multiparous that they are present at a public hospital of the Buenos Aires City

En la Argentina, desde agosto de 2006 está vigente la Ley Nacional Nº 26.130 que garantiza el derecho a las mujeres mayores de edad, que no desean tener más hijos, a acceder en forma gratuita a la ligadura tubaria. Objetivo: Describir los motivos que explicitan las mujeres gran multíparas para solicitar la ligadura tubaria. Material y métodos: El diseño fue exploratorio-descriptivo y la metodología cualitativa. Se realizaron entrevistas en profundidad a una muestra intencional de 30 usuarias gran multíparas (> 5 partos) que solicitaron la anticoncepción quirúrgica en el Área de Salud Sexual y Reproductiva del HMI Ramón Sardá de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, y a 10 profesionales de la salud, considerados informantes clave. Resultados: La mitad de las mujeres entrevistadas había solicitado la ligadura tubaria previamente y 22 de 26 mujeres (84,6 por ciento) que estaban embarazadas al momento de solicitar la práctica, señalaron que su embarazo no era deseado. Entre algunos resultados, la mayoría era argentina y la edad promedio fue de 34,6 años. El temor a sufrir complicaciones en la salud en caso de un nuevo embarazo y la situación de un embarazo inesperado, aparecen como motivos determinantes para la solicitud de la práctica. Conclusiones: Si bien la sanción de la ley es muy reciente y su implementación está sujeta a diversas barreras, depende de la voluntad de los actores sociales para que dichos obstáculos sean visibilizados, a fin de optimizar la calidad de atención de las beneficiarias de los Programas de Salud Sexual y Reproductiva de la Argentina.

In Argentina, a National Law 26.130 was passed in August, 2006. This law gives the right to women over 21 years old who do not want to have more children to ask for the tubal sterilization without having to pay for the practice. Objective: Describe the reasons that grand multiparous women give to petition for a tubal sterilization. Material and methods: The design was descriptive exploratory and the methodology was qualitative. Interviews in depth were conducted to an intentional sample of thirty grand multiparous women (>5 partos) who arrive to the Reproductive and Sexual Health Area of the Ramón Sardá Hospital in the City of Buenos Aires asking for tubal sterilization, plus ten professionals in the health field, considered key informants. Results: Half of the women interviewed had already asked for the practice previously, and 22 of 26 women (84,6 per cent) that were pregnant talked that this pregnancy was unwanted. So me results establishes that most of them were argentinians and the average age was 34,6 years old. Conclusions: The fear of suffering health complications in the case of a new pregnancy or a new unwanted pregnancy appear to be the most important reasons to ask for the tubal sterilization. The visualization of the obstacles mentioned before depends on the willingness of the social actors. They will optimize the quality of the service offered to the patients of the reproductive and Sexual Health Program of Argentina.

Motivos de solicitud de la ligadura tubaria: estudio exploratorio desde la perspectiva de las usuarias gran multíparas que asisten a un hospital público de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires / Motives of request of the tubal ligation: exploratory study from the perspectives of the users great multiparous that they are present at a public hospital of the Buenos Aires City

En la Argentina, desde agosto de 2006 está vigente la Ley Nacional Nº 26.130 que garantiza el derecho a las mujeres mayores de edad, que no desean tener más hijos, a acceder en forma gratuita a la ligadura tubaria. Objetivo: Describir los motivos que explicitan las mujeres gran multíparas para solicitar la ligadura tubaria

In Argentina, a National Law 26.130 was passed in August, 2006. This law gives the right to women over 21 years old who do not want to have more children to ask for the tubal sterilization without having to pay for the practice. Objective: Describe the reasons that grand multiparous women give to petition for a tubal sterilization. Material and methods: The design was descriptive exploratory and the methodology was qualitative. Interviews in depth were conducted to an intentional sample of thirty grand multiparous women (>5 partos) who arrive to the Reproductive and Sexual Health Area of the Ramón Sardá Hospital in the City of Buenos Aires asking for tubal sterilization, plus ten professionals in the health field, considered key informants. Results: Half of the women interviewed had already asked for the practice previously, and 22 of 26 women (84,6 per cent) that were pregnant talked that this pregnancy was unwanted. So me results establishes that most of them were argentinians and the average age was 34,6 years old. Conclusions: The fear of suffering health complications in the case of a new pregnancy or a new unwanted pregnancy appear to be the most important reasons to ask for the tubal sterilization. The visualization of the obstacles mentioned before depends on the willingness of the social actors. They will optimize the quality of the service offered to the patients of the reproductive and Sexual Health Program of Argentina.(AU)

Filshie clip closure: determination of closure through the analysis of X-rays.

The Filshie method is a tubal occlusion method commonly used to prevent pregnancy. In medical negligence cases where it is suspected that closure of a Filshie clip may be faulty, lawyers may call on expert surgeons to assess whether or not a clip is closed on the basis of visual examination of the X-rays. However, it is not uncommon for experts to disagree. The aim of this work was to reduce the uncertainty in determining whether or not Filshie clips had been correctly closed. An estimate of the error in the estimate of the clip height was made by propagating measurement errors through a mathematical model. The effects of angle of presentation of the clip, digitisation of the image and resolution of the measurements were studied and the method was applied to two cases. The analysis indicated that measurement errors were least when the digitisation of the image was at 600dpi, angle of presentation of the clip was less than 40 degrees and the measurements could be made to an accuracy of +/-1pixel. Under these conditions it was possible to determine clip closure height with an error of less than +/-0.2mm.

Surgical adhesives and tubal sterilization: an experimental study.

AIM: Our aim was to assess the application of three currently used surgical adhesives in the tubal lumen of rabbits, to promote sterilization, using a transvaginal approach. METHODS: Fifty-seven female albino New Zealand rabbits (114 uterine tubes), which became pregnant and delivered before the experiment, were divided into four groups: GS (sham-24 tubes), GEFIBRI (0.25 mL of fibrin adhesive in 30 tubes), GE-GRF (0.25 mL of resorcin adhesive in 30 tubes) and GEBUTYL (0.25 mL of n-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate adhesive in 30 tubes). The animals were mated with proven fertile males after the experiment and observed over 30, 90 and 180 days. Pregnancy and patency were macroscopically evaluated. The tubal diameter, tubal mucosa, myosalpinx, total optical density and inflammatory process were microscopically evaluated. The statistical analysis was performed by McNemar and Wilcoxon tests for the subgroups, and Fisher's exact test and Kruskal-Wallis test for the groups, the differences identified by Dunn's multiple comparisons test (P=5%). RESULTS: GS showed patency and pregnancies in all subgroups. GEFIBRI showed patency and pregnancies in all subgroups. GE-GRF did not show patency or pregnancies, but was associated with severe inflammatory process and tubal morphology alterations. GEBUTYL did not show patency, pregnancies or morphological tubal mucosa alterations. CONCLUSIONS: The n-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate adhesive effectively promoted tubal obstruction, did not cause tubal morphological alterations, nor did it impair the rabbit pregnancy. The fibrin adhesive failed to cause the occlusion. The GRF adhesive, in spite of producing tubal occlusion, caused severe uterine tubes damage.

Does a surgical simulator improve resident operative performance of laparoscopic tubal ligation?

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess whether a surgical skills simulator laboratory improves resident knowledge and operative performance of laparoscopic tubal ligation. STUDY DESIGN: Twenty postgraduate year 1 residents were assigned randomly to either a surgical simulator laboratory on laparoscopic tubal ligation together with apprenticeship teaching in the operating room or to apprenticeship teaching alone. Tests that were given before and after the training assessed basic knowledge. Attending physicians who were blinded to resident randomization status evaluated postgraduate year 1 performance on a laparoscopic tubal ligation in the operating room with 3 validated tools: a task-specific checklist, global rating scale, and pass/fail grade. RESULTS: Postgraduate year 1 residents who were assigned randomly to the surgical simulator laboratory performed significantly better than control subjects on all 3 surgical assessment tools (the checklist, the global score, and the pass/fail analysis) and scored significantly better on the knowledge posttest (all P < .0005). CONCLUSION: Compared with apprenticeship teaching alone, a surgical simulator laboratory on laparoscopic tubal ligation improved resident knowledge and performance in the operating room.

Success rate and patient satisfaction with the Essure sterilisation in an outpatient setting: a prospective study of 857 women.

After 857 women with Essure system inserted for tubal obstruction as a method of sterilization in an outpatient setting, insertion is achieved in close to 99% of the women. Physician described the procedure as very difficult in 15% of the cases, mainly due to anatomical tubal anomalis or tubal spasm, and women felt highly satisfied in all cases.

ACOG practice bulletin. Clinical management guidelines for obstetrician-gynecologists. Number 46, September 2003. (Replaces technical bulletin number 222, April 1996).

Bilateral tubal sterilization and vasectomy are both safe and effective permanent methods of contraception; more than 220 million couples worldwide use them as their contraceptive method of choice. Sterilization continues to be the most commonly used contraceptive method in the United States, with 11 million U.S. women relying on the method. Approximately 700,000 tubal sterilizations and 5000,000 vasectomies are performed in the United States annually. The purpose of this document is to review the evidence for the safety and effectiveness of sterilization in comparison with other forms of contraception, as well as evidence of the likelihood that a woman will regret having had a sterilization procedure.