A POTENTIAL SINGLE INSERTION PROTOCOL FOR QUINACRINE PELLET NONSURGICAL FEMALE STERILIZATION

Two preliminary single-insertion clinical trials of the quinacrine pel let method of non-surgical female sterilization were compared. Both tr ials used transcervical application of quinacrine, 252 mg, and diclofe nac, 75 mg, as pellets. In the first trial (21 April 1992 to 17 Februa ry 1993), 58 women received oral contraceptives for three months. In t he second trial (19 February 1993 to 25 May 1994), 229 women received medroxyprogesterone acetate, 150 mg IM, at the time of quinacrine inse rtion. At 18 months, the life-table pregnancy failure rate per 100 wom en of the first trial was 8.6 (SE 3.7), whereas the failure rate for t he medroxyprogesterone acetate group was 0.5 (SE 0.5), p < 0.05. There were no serious complications or side-effects in either group. Larger confirming trials with random allocation and long-term systematic fol low-up are needed to determine whether a single injection of medroxypr ogesterone improves the efficacy of quinacrine.