Levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system: why do some women dislike it?

Background: There is growing evidence of women's dissatisfaction with the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) because of a high incidence of adverse effects.

Objective: To quantify the continuation rate and users' satisfaction, and identify symptoms associated with early removal before the 5-years effective life-time.

Method: A questionnaire was sent to 212 women, who had LNG-IUS inserted from 1 January 1998 to 31 December 2003 at The Ipswich Hospital, UK.

Results: The response rate was 76% (n = 161), 16 of the respondents were excluded and the data of 145 are presented. The continuation rate was 85%, 70%, 59%, 56%, 50% and 50% at 6 months, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years, respectively. The total number of women who had the LNG-IUS removed before 5 years was 72 (50%), and the median duration of use was 270 days (range 4-1460). The reasons for early removal were unscheduled bleeding, progestogenic adverse effects, abdominal pain and others in 40 (28%), 32 (22%), 19 (13%) and 19 (13%) women, respectively. Only 73 (50%) women were satisfied with LNG-IUS.

Conclusions: Our findings are similar to recent reports, and this information should be readily available to women to enable them to make an informed choice.