Quinacrine Pellet Method of Nonsurgical Female Sterilization in Iran: Preliminary Report on a Clinical Trial

Abstract

An evaluation of 160 women from Tehran Iran who underwent female sterilization with quinacrine pellets in a private-practice setting indicates that this nonsurgical technique is safe and effective. 52% of acceptors were 26-35 years old; 76% had 4 or more living children. Informed consent for sterilization was obtained from both acceptors and their husbands. Two monthly doses consisting of 252 mg of quinacrine plus 50 mg of an antiprostaglandin were administered to the last 98 patients; the initial group received 3 quinacrine doses at 1-month intervals. Women returned to the facility for follow-up 1 2 and 15 days after each insertion; 1 2 3 and 6 months after the last insertion; and then annually for 3 years. By the end of the 3-year study 2 women had become pregnant (1 who received 2 doses and another who received 3 doses) for a gross pregnancy rate of 1.2%; neither pregnancy was ectopic. Although half the women experienced side effects such as lower abdominal pain (18 women) local itching (16 women) and fever for 5 or more days (14 women) these effects were restricted to the first 2 months after the procedure and easily remedied. The cost of this technique was one-tenth that of surgical sterilization. A major obstacle to more widespread use of this method in Iran is lack of knowledge within the medical community. Several study participants reported that their physicians had erroneously informed them that pellets are incapable of producing sterilization.