Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The postcoital copper-T.

1976; National Institutes of Health; Volume: 11; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

Jack Lippes, Tasneem Malik, Tatum Hj,

Reproductive Health and Contraception

The knowledge that the human ovum normally resides in the oviduct for 3 days formed the basis for the suggestion that the IUD might be useful as a morning-after contraceptive. A copper-T IUD was inserted in 97 women referred from colleges and high schools in western New York from 1 to 5 days after unprotected coitus. Rape cases were also studied. Analysis of the menstrual cycle when unprotected coitus occurred showed that college students tended to request a postcoital copper-T at about midcycle. Pregnancies were absent within 3 months of insertion among the 97 patients examined and treated with IUDs. Of the first 44 who were followed for 6 months 77% were still wearing the CU-T after 6 months of use and 69% still used it after 1 year. 5 of the init ial 50 devices were removed within 3 months because protection was only needed for the 1 unprotected coitus. The insertion of a copper-T to prevent pregnancy after unprotected coitus avoids unpleasant gastrointestinal side effects associated with other postcoital methods such as estrogen.