[Postpartum sterilization in a program of medical training]. / Esterilización postparto en un programa de adiestramiento médico.

PIP: This study presents information about the postpartum sterilization program of a teaching hospital in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and compares results to data reported in the literature. 147 patients undergoing sterilization between February-August 1984 were included. 6 of the women were under 20 years old, 18 were 21-25, 63 were 26-30, 30 were 31-35, and 30 were 36 or over. 22 had had 1-3 children, 81 had 4-6, 27 had 7-9, and 17 had over 9. 96.6% were married. 92 had never used a contraceptive method, 47 had used pills, 7 had used IUDs, and 1 had used a barrier method. Only 29 had been born in the Nuevo Leon metropolitan area but 126 were current residents. 101 had incomplete or complete primary educations, 8 had secondary educations, 36 were illiterate, and 2 had professional educations. Only 38 had prenatal health care preceding the delivery. Hemoglobin levels in 20 cases were less than 9.0, 28 were 9.1-10.0, 45 were 10.1-11.0, 34 were 11.1-12.0, and 20 were 12.1 or above. 17.6% of patients required preoperative transfusions of packed blood. The indication for sterilization was multiparity in 96.6% of cases. 13 patients had epidural anesthesia during delivery, 1 had a subarachnoid block, and 133 had no anesthesia. 139 had epidural blocks during the sterilization operation, 6 had subarachnoid blocks, and 2 had general anesthesia. There was 1 case of cardiorespiratory arrest but recovery was satisfactory. The only obstetric complication was 1 perforation of the jejunum, which was repaired. There were no other cases of pre- or postoperative complications except for 21 cases of difficulty in providing epidural anesthesia. The Pomeroy technique was used in 139 sterilizations, fimbriectomy in 5, and salpingectomy in 5. Umbilical hernioplasties were done in 3 patients without complications. The interval between surgery and leaving the hospital was between 12-24 hours in 83.7% of cases. The interval between delivery and sterilization was 12-24 hours in 71.4% of cases. Only 9 cases required more than 4 days of hospitalization. The immediate postpartum is not considered the optimal moment for female sterilization because of the increased vulnerability of the patient. The experience with this series suggests that for some patients, tubal sterilization by minilaparotomy in the immediate postpartum is a valuable method because it meets the demand for definitive contraception among high parity women of low socioeconomic level and with limited access to medical care. It requires only brief hospitalization and involves very low rates of morbidity.^ieng

[Surgical sterilization: 10 years' experience]. / Esterilización quirúrgica: experiencia en 10 años.

PIP: A sample of 1003 records of surgical sterilizations was studied from among the 9400 performed between July 1972-June 1982 at a university hospital in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. 12 patients were aged 15-19, 104 were 20-24, 244 were 25-29, 291 were 30-34, 267 were 35-39, and 85 were 40-45. Not all patients met the recommended conditions of being at least 25 years old and/or having at least 3 pregnancies. 11.6% of the patients were sterilized because of psychiatric problems, multiparity, 2 previous cesarean sections or on request of the spouse. 95.5% of the women were married, 2.1% were single, 1.6% lived in free union and .8% were widowed. 14.0% were illiterate, 57.7% had incomplete primary educations, 19.3% had completed primary school, 2.5% had incomplete secondary or technical schooling, and .3% had professional studies. 27 women had had 0-2 pregnancies, 336 had 3-5, 336 had 6-8, 198 had 9-11, and 106 had 12 or more. The maximum number of pregnancies was 20 and the average was 7.1/woman. 6 women had preoperative hemoglobin levels of 6.0 g or less, 12 had 7.0 g, 44 had 8.0, 119 had 9.0 g, 756 had 10.0, and 566 had 11.0 g or higher. Transfusions were given to all women with less than the minimum level of 10.0 g. 460 of the operations were postpartum, 334 were transcesarean, and 209 were interval procedures. 696 operations were done by the Pomeroy method, 52 by modified Pomeroy, 27 by fimbriectomy, 16 by salpingectomy, and 2 by the Uchida method. Among laparoscopic methods, 82 were done by cauterization and 128 with Yoon rings. 392 postpartum and 286 transcesarean operations were performed using the Pomeroy technique, while 82 interval sterilizations were done using cauterization and 107 using Yoon rings. Epidural anesthesia was used in 457 postpartum and 325 transcesarean procedures, while general anesthesia was used in 175 interval sterilization. There were few transoperative complications. There were 2 cases of failure to achieve salpingoclasy, 4 cases of hemorrhage, 1 case of burning of the visceral wall, 1 case of anesthetic accident, and 12 cases of other complications. Among postoperative complications there were 15 cases of abdominal pain, 1 each of fever and infection, and 1 of other complication. There was 1 pregnancy among the 1003 cases. All the procedures were performed by physicians in training.^ieng