Failure and regret after laparoscopic filshie clip sterilization under local anesthetic.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the failure, regret, and reversal rates 5 or more years after laparoscopic Filshie clip sterilization using local anesthesia.


METHODS
A total of 1,101 women underwent Filshie clip sterilization between 1983 and 2002. They completed follow-up questionnaires that were analyzed for the following outcomes: failed sterilization, regret after the operation, and sterilization reversal.


RESULTS
Two hundred thirty-three of 968 (24%) eligible women sent the questionnaire had moved from their last known address. Of the remaining 735 women, 573 (78%) completed the questionnaire: 223 (39%) 5-6 years after the operation, 175 (30%) after 7-9 years, and 175 (30%) after 10-15 years. One pregnancy occurred 10 months after surgery, and one woman had the procedure repeated when unilateral tubal patency was identified by hysterosalpingography 3 weeks after surgery. Twenty-four (4%) women regretted having the operation; 7 (1.2%) women had a reversal operation, and all subsequently conceived.


CONCLUSIONS
Failure after tubal sterilization using Filshie clips is less than 1:500 operations. Patient selection and surgeons' experience may have influenced these results. Regret occurred in a small proportion.


METHODS
III.
MacKenzie
I Z
IZ
Elliot-Smith Clinic, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom. ian.mackenzie@obs-gyn.ox.ac.uk
Thompson
Wendy
W
Roseman
Fenella
F
Turner
Eileen
E
Guillebaud
John
J
D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D013243:Sterilization Reversal; D013246:Sterilization, Tubal / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017211:Treatment Failure; D055815:Young Adult