A three-year study of the copper-7 minigravigard intrauterine contraceptive device in nulliparous women

Abstract

For a study on the side effects of the Copper 7 Minigravigard IUD, physicians at the Family Planning Center in Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand inserted this IUD in 99 nulliparous women between 17-32 years old after performing a pelvic examination and a Papanicolaou smear between February 1983-January 1986. The women returned for reexaminations on the 3rd, 6th, and 12th months following insertion. After the 1st year, they returned annually. 2% of the women experienced enough post insertion pain that they required a mild analgesic. 17% experienced no pain. 5 women became pregnant and the IUD was subsequently removed. 4 woman delivered full term, health infants, while the 5th experienced a spontaneous abortion 1 week after removal of the IUD. The 1 year pregnancy rate stood at 3% which was higher than the 1.7% rate for a study of the Copper T 200. The expulsion rate stood at 6% during the 1st year, while it climbed to 8% in the 2 remaining years. Due to excessive bleeding and/or pain, physicians had to remove 4.5%, 7.6%, 8%, and 9.1% of the IUDs at 3, 6, 12, and 24 and 36 months respectively. In the study of the Copper T 200, the removal rate was higher (10.7%). No cases of pelvic inflammatory disease occurred. At the end of 2 and 3 years, 30.8% and 18.2% of the women still had the IUD. This 3 year study showed the advantages of the Copper-7 Minigravigard IUD to be simple insertion with minimal pain.