Abstract
Purpose
Although the IUD has been a contraceptive method for about 50 years, how it affects
subsequent fertility remains controversial. The aim of our study was to examine time
to pregnancy, pregnancy outcome and the need for infertility workup in a cohort of
previous copper IUD users.
Materials and methods
From May 1993 to April 1995, 957 women were included in a prospective cohort IUD study
in the city of Trondheim, Norway. From this randomized clinical trial, we identified
205 women eligible for study participation. Group A comprised 109 women who removed
their IUD for purposes of planning to become pregnant, while Group B comprised 96
women who became pregnant or planned pregnancy after a complicated IUD use. Data were
collected through a postal questionnaire. All information from the questionnaires
was validated against data kept in the medical record at the general practitioner's
office or in the hospital record of women who became pregnant or started an infertility
workup. All analyses were done using SPSS.
Results
In Group A, 93.6% (102/109) of the women became pregnant. Time to conception was unaffected
by parity order, duration of use and age at time for removal of the IUD. Among the
seven women who did not conceive, four women cancelled pregnancy plans, while three
women started an infertility workup. The distribution of intra-/extrauterine pregnancies
did not differ between Groups A and B. However, significantly more pregnancies were
terminated as induced abortions in Group B. The two women (2%) who did not conceive
in Group B did not start an infertility workup.
Conclusion
In line with results from other studies, there is no evidence that prior use of a
copper-containing IUD increases the risk for impaired fertility regardless of the
reason for removal.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 17, 2006
Accepted:
September 14,
2006
Received in revised form:
August 23,
2006
Received:
July 3,
2006
Footnotes
���This study has been financially supported by Schering Oy (former Leiras Oy).
Identification
Copyright
© 2007 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
