Pregnancy testing prior to sterilisation

Objective To determine the incidence of positive pregnancy test on the day of laparoscopic sterilisation. Design prospective longitudinal observational study. Setting Gynaccology unit in a UK teaching hospital. Sample Between 1 January 1997 and 31 December 1998, eight hundred and two c onsecutive women were admitted for laparoscopic sterilisation after assessm ent in the gynaecology clinic. On the day of planned surgery, all women had a pregnancy test performed on a urine sample taken that morning following overnight fasting, immediately prior to operation. Main outcome measures A positive pregnancy test on the day of planned surge ry. Results Of 802 women tested, 21 (2.6%) were pregnant. A careful medical his tory taken before surgery revealed evidence of amenorrhoea and menstrual ir regularity in 17 of the pregnant women. Of the 21 pregnant women, ii underw ent termination of pregnancy, six continued the pregnancy, four had a misca rriage and one had an ectopic pregnancy. Conclusion The routine practice of pregnancy testing on the day of laparosc opic sterilisation introduced in our hospital should continue to be part of a thorough clinical assessment before surgery. This may help to reduce the considerable level of existing litigation in a high risk area of gynaecolo gical practice.