Spring-Loaded Birth Control
Reported March 28, 2005
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) —
Each year, about 700,000 women will have their tubes tied to prevent pregnancy. The procedure is highly effective but can be tough on patients. Now, an easier approach gives some women the same benefits without surgery.
Sherry Pascual loves everything about decorating, but she says planning is the best part. “That’s the fun part, seeing what you can find, where you can find it, what goes with what.”
Deciding what to do with this room is today’s challenge. But a few months ago, Pascual faced a different kind of challenge. Her periods were so painful that doctors removed the lining of her uterus. She says, “After the ablation, they don’t want you to get pregnant because you can’t physically carry a pregnancy.”
Sterilization was Pascual’s only option. But instead of standard surgery, gynecologist Steven McCarus, M.D., inserted two small springs into her fallopian tubes. Eventually, tissue will grow around the springs and block the tubes. That prevents pregnancy. There’s no incision and no anesthesia.
“I think that this is an easier, less invasive approach to female sterilization,” Dr. McCarus, of Florida Hospital Celebration Health in Orlando, Fla., tells Ivanhoe.
Studies show the spring is about 99-percent effective — about the same as surgery. Since it’s new, doctors don’t know whether this success will last. But they do know once the spring is implanted, it’s permanent.
“The patient really has to be comfortable that this is a permanent change,” Dr. McCarus says.
Pascual was comfortable with that. And she says recovery was quick. “It’s like going to the gynecologist for an office visit,” she says. “That’s how fast it is.”
Pascual was the first patient Dr. McCarus performed the spring sterilization procedure on. The procedure was FDA approved in 2002, but only about 1,000 doctors nationwide perform it. About 70 percent of patients who have insurance are covered for the spring sterilization.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Jeni Hatter
Media Relations
Florida Hospital
(407) 303-8213
[email protected]
