Follow-up of women seeking sterilization reversal: a Brazilian experience.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the follow-up of a cohort of women who requested reversal of surgical sterilization.


METHODS
This retrospective study was carried out at the State University of Campinas, Brazil. A cohort of 394 women who requested sterilization reversal was followed up for one year after reversal surgery. The analysis includes the percentage of women who completed the steps between the initial consultation up to one year after reversal surgery.


RESULTS
After an initial consultation, 55.1% of the patients decided not to continue with the procedures. Of the patients who did undergo laparoscopy (n = 177), 48.6% had no possibility of a successful surgical reversal because the Fallopian tubes were in very poor condition. Only 17.5% of the initial patients requesting reversal ultimately underwent surgery and 3.3% became pregnant.


CONCLUSIONS
The analysis of regret about surgical sterilization should include not only women who undergo surgery but also women requesting surgery. Better patient selection and counseling prior to sterilization are necessary in order to prevent increasing rates of sterilization regret in Brazil.
D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D005187:Fallopian Tubes / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D018579:Patient Selection; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012731:Sex Counseling; D013243:Sterilization Reversal / Q000523:psychology* / Q000592:standards*