EFFECT OF LAPAROSCOPIC STERILIZATION BY DIATHERMY OR SILASTIC BANDS ON POSTOPERATIVE PAIN, MENSTRUAL SYMPTOMS AND SEXUALITY

A total of 530 patients was reviewed six months after laparoscopic sterilisation by diathermy (235 patients) or silastic bands (295 patients). In the immediate post‐operative period severe lower abdominal pain was more common in the patients who had silastic bands. There was one failure with diathermy and two with silastic bands. There were no differences in the nature or incidence of menstrual problems when the two methods were compared. In all, 40 per cent of patients reported an increase in menstrual blood loss and 26 per cent of patients an increase in menstrual pain, and this could not be attributed entirely to stopping oral contraception; 42 per cent of patients reported improvement in their sex lives after sterilisation, while 6.6 per cent reported deterioration mainly due to lack of libido. There was some regret about the operation in 5.1 per cent of patients. Copyright © 1979, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved