Tubes Tied? Periods No Problem.

A large study comparing the menstrual cycles of women who have undergone tubal ligation with those who have not has concluded that, "Women who have undergone tubal sterilization are no more likely than other women to have menstrual abnormalities." Researchers at several leading institutions including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published their findings in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Every year almost 700,000 U.S. women choose tubal ligation as a means of birth control. Informally known as getting one's "tubes tied," the fallopian tubes are sealed during the process in order to prevent fertilization. In the past, most were performed shortly after a woman gave birth, through a small incision just below the belly button. Today most are done via laparoscope (a thin telescope inserted through a tiny incision) on an outpatient basis.

There have been concerns that the procedure can cause heavy or prolonged periods, necessitating a subsequent hysterectomy. But, these concerns have been debated in the medical literature over the past 50 years.

Dr. Herbert B. Peterson and associates studied 9,514 women who underwent tubal sterilization and 573 women whose partners underwent vasectomy for comparison. Telephone interviews were conducted for five years and the women were asked detailed questions about their periods both before and after their surgical procedures.

Dr. Westhoff added, "Women will continue to find tubal sterilization economically sensible as well as acceptable in other ways." This simple finding may reassure any women who are considering the procedure. And, even though it was originally considered a permanent form of birth control, tubal ligations can now be successfully reversed in a majority of women.