The effects of TCu-380A on cervicovaginal flora.

Objective: This study aims to identify the alterations in cervicovaginal flora after insertion of TCu 380A which is a popular type of copper IUD.

Study Design: Among the women who visited the Department of Family Planning in our hospital during 1 month, 100 subjects who preferred IUDs for contraception and who had no history of local or systemic antibiotic use were considered eligible candidates.

Results: Anaerobic colonies, especially Gram-positive cocci and Gram-negative bacilli were isolated at significantly higher rates after the insertion of TCu-380A. Aerobic colonies were isolated relatively less.

Conclusions: It can be suggested that copper IUD causes the predominance of anaerobic species in the cervicovaginal flora, which is consistent with the literature. This clinically insignificant condition can be attributed to the copper content or threads of the IUDs. Yet there is no evidence that the prevalance of pelvic infections is influenced by the use of IUDs.