Objective: The contraceptive efficacy of hysteroscopic sterilization is well documented. The objective of this study was to compare procedure success, patient tolerance, and procedure time of Essure micro-insert hysteroscopic sterilization with or without anesthesia.
Study design: Between February 2002 and May 2005, one operator performed 140 sterilization procedures in this prospective study: the first 70 were performed using local anesthesia and the following 70 began without administration of anesthesia. Analysis was based on intention-to-treat.
Results: The groups were comparable in their demographic characteristics. Successful bilateral micro-insert placement in the first 70 cases, utilizing paracervical block, was 82.8% and did not differ significantly from the next 70 cases, without anesthesia (91.4%). A similar number of patients in each group received additional anesthesia. Report of procedure pain did not differ significantly between the groups: 87.1% reported moderate or less pain with the paracervical block, compared with 91.4% in the group without anesthesia. Duration of surgery was significantly shorter without anesthesia: 11.2+/-6.3 min vs. 25.0+/-8.0 min (p<0.001).
Conclusions: Administration of anesthesia does not appear to affect the procedure completion success rate or patient tolerance of this hysteroscopic sterilization procedure.