The Benefits of Contraception With IUDs

3054 Words7 Pages

IUDs, intrauterine devices, were developed at the beginning of the 20th century as an alternative to ‘interuterine devices’, which frequently caused pelvic inflammatory disease. Intrauterine devices are T shaped devices containing either copper or levonorgestrel and used as a form of long-acting reversible contraception. Pelvic inflammatory disease is a community-acquired infection of the female reproductive organs caused by a sexually transmitted disease, most commonly Neisseria gonorrhoaea and Chlamydia trachomatis. PID can involve the uterus fallopian tubes, ovaries, or all of these structures. Sequelae of PID include recurrent episodes of PID, infertility, chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy, and a possible association with ovarian cancer. Although the same basic risk of pelvic inflammatory disease is still present with both copper and hormonal IUDs, it is infrequent, and typically absent after a month. There is scarce evidence that the two are directly related outside of patients who have a preexisting STI, yet the perception of the risk greatly hinders the their social reception worldwide. Despite their apparent benefits, there has been a sharp decline since 1975 in IUD use, from 9% to less than 2% of women in the US. IUDs are relatively safe and convenient; other than surgery, they are one of the most consistently effective forms of preventing birth. Copper IUDs can be used for emergency birth control after unprotected sex, and both copper and hormonal IUDs do not interfere with breastfeeding and are safe to use immediately after an abortion. The research question is twofold: what are the comparative benefits of using IUDs, and what is the validity of the reasons preventing their widespread use? The importance of this re...

... middle of paper ...

...ment Algorithms for Selection of Intrauterine Device Candidate Charles S. Morrison,* Christine Sekadde-Kigondu,† William C. Miller,‡ Debra H. Weiner,* and Samuel K. Sinei† Contraception 1999;59:97–106

9) Effects of Age, Parity, and Device Type on Complications and Discontinuation of Intrauterine Devices Joelle Aoun, MD, Virginia A. Dines, BS, Dale W. Stovall, MD, Mihriye Mete, PhD, Casey B. Nelson, BA, and Veronica Gomez-Lobo, MD VOL. 123, NO. 3, MARCH 2014 OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY 585-591

10) Expanding access to intrauterine contraception. Allen RH1, Goldberg AB, Grimes DA. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2009 Nov;201(5):456.e1-5

11) Adolescent and young adult women's knowledge of and attitudes toward the intrauterine device.Whitaker AK, Johnson LM, Harwood B, Chiappetta L, Creinin MD, Gold MA. 2008 Sep;78(3):211-7. doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2008.04.119. Epub 2008 Jul 3.

Open Document