A decade of experience with TCu200.

Abstract

This paper summarizes ten years of experience with 2766 interval insertions of the TCu200 device. One hundred and twenty months of use were completed by 572 patients and the cumulative woman-months of use were 159,664. For evaluating the overall performance, gross cumulative and yearly specific life-table termination and continuation rates were calculated as suggested by Tietze [2]. The cumulative pertinent rates at the end of the ten-year follow-up period were as follows: pregnancy 10.2; expulsion 6.3; bleeding/pain 32.3; and removal for other medical reasons 19.4. The gross annual rates for the same conditions at the end of the first year of use were: 1.8, 2.4, 4.2, and 2.0, while in the tenth year they were: 0.6, 0.1, 4.4, and 2.8, respectively. The continuation rate was 89.1 at the end of the 12th month and 33.2 at the end of the 10th year. Based on this evaluation, the TCu200 IUD has a good overall performance and a longer lifespan than was previously expected.