Tubal Sterilization
Medical Author:
Avi J Sklar, MD, FACOG, FACS, FRCSC
Coauthor:
Sandra Wendel
Medical Editor:
Bryan D Cowan, MD
Medical Editor:
Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD
Medical Editor:
Lee P Shulman, MD
Tubal Sterilization OverviewTubal sterilization is surgery to block a woman's fallopian tubes.Tubal sterilizationis a permanent form of birth control.After this procedure, eggs cannot move from the ovary through the tubes (a woman has two fallopian tubes), and eventually to the uterus.Also, sperm cannot reach the egg in the fallopian tube after it is released by the ovary.Thus, pregnancy is prevented. This procedure is also called tubal ligation or you are said to have your "tubes tied."More formally, it is known as bilateral tubal ligation (BTL). Currently, about 700,000 of these procedures are performed each year in the United States.Half are performed right after a woman gives birth.The rest areelective procedures performed as a one-day operation in an outpatient clinic.Eleven million US women aged 15-44 years rely on sterilization as a means of birth control to prevent pregnancy.More than 190 million couples worldwide use surgical sterilization as a safe and reliable method of permanent birth control. Prior to the 1960s, female sterilization in the United States was generally performed only for medical problems or when a woman was considered "too old" to have children or at risk. The changing cultural climate in the 1960s resulted in safe, minimally invasive female sterilization procedures. |
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Tubal Sterilization
Birth Control Introduction
The practice of birth control or preventing pregnancy is as old as human existence. For centuries, humans have relied upon their imagination to avoid pregnancy.
- Egyptian ancient writings dating back to 1850 BC refer to techniques using a device placed in a woman’s vagina made of crocodile dung and fermented dough, which most likely created a hostile environment for sperm. Other items placed in the vagina included plugs of gum, honey, and acacia.
- During the early second century in Rome, a highly acidic concoction of fruits, nuts, and wool was placed on the cervix as a type of spermicidal barrier.
Today, the voluntary control of fertility is of paramount importance to modern society. From a global perspective, countries currently face the crisis of rapid growth of the human population that has begun to threaten human survival. According to the Population Refe...
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Tubal Sterilization »
Prior to the 1960s, female sterilization in the United States was generally performed only for medical indications (when additional pregnancies would be hazardous to the mother).
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