One-year assessment of women receiving sub-dermal contraceptive implant at Siriraj Family Planning Clinic.
BACKGROUND
The single-rod Implantable contraceptive method, called 'Implanon', has been introduced for use in Thailand since the 1990s. The outstanding attribute was that it requires only a few minutes for insertion and removal as it has only one capsule. The single-rod implant was used in women at Siriraj Hospital in 2006. The present study looked at characteristics of women, complications of insertion and removal, menstrual events that occurred to women during one year of use and reason for removal of the method.


METHODS
This was a retrospective clinic based study. All women's record files were examined at Siriraj Hospital's Family Planning Clinic. There were 166 women enrolled to undergo this method, and only 89 women (54.6%) came back for the one-year follow-up visit. Women's accounts on irregularity of menses, complaints during method used and reason for discontinuation, pregnancy and body weight change were assessed.


RESULTS
Most women (68%) using the implant contraceptive method were 29 years of age with 74% of vocational or lower education. Their BMI was 22.66 +/- 4.06 Insertion time was about 1 minute with no difficulty or complication. Of those women, 40.4% of them considered having regular menstrual cycle and 30.3% had regular menstrual flow for a few months alternately with no menses for a few months. Prolonged menstrual bleeding was the most complaint in this group of women. Amenorrhoea was also reported. Vertigo had occurred to some women without reported medication. One woman asked for the removal of the method due to pain at the implanted site after 8 months of use. Removal time was around 2-3 minutes. There was no pregnancy that occurred in the course of one year of use.


CONCLUSIONS
Of 89 women using the implant contraceptive method, menstrual irregularity was the important issue that women complained about. However, the removal of the method in one woman was due to the pain at the implanted site. There was no difficulty or complications in insertion or removal of the implant. Close counseling about side effects of the method is emphasized during use to maintain long-term use or until completion of the duration of the device.
Thamkhantho
Manopchai
M
Siriraj Reproductive Health Research and Training Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. tmanopchai@hotmail.com
Jivasak-Apimas
Supanee
S
Angsuwathana
Surasak
S
Chiravacharadej
Gessuda
G
Intawong
Jarataporn
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000568:Amenorrhea; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003271:Contraceptive Agents, Female / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D017135:Desogestrel / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D004343:Drug Implants; D005193:Family Planning Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000187:drug effects*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013785:Thailand; D013997:Time Factors
D003271:Contraceptive Agents, Female; D004343:Drug Implants; C044815:etonogestrel; D017135:Desogestrel