Low risk of pelvic inflammatory disease in young never-pregnant women using GravigardR

The present four-center investigation involves 516 never-pregnant women in whom a copper-7-intrauterine device (Cu-7-IUD) was inserted. Out of these patients 173 were teenagers at the time of insertion. A “small-sized” Cu-7-IUD (Cu-7-Nullip) — designed for nulliparous women — was randomely used instead of the commercially available Cu-7-IUD (Gravigard^R) in 76 — 44 of whom were teenagers — out of the 516 women. The incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) of 9,080 woman-months was reviewed. In the present study the incidence of PID varied from one center to another between 0.9 and 1.4 per cent/ year in women wearing Cu-IUDs. When comparing these figures with the estimated incidence (1.2%) in the population of fertile-aged women, it was concluded that the risk for PID was not increased in neverpregnant women using Cu-IUDs, including teenagers as well as women of 20 years of age or more. No difference in the incidence of PID was observed between the Gravigard^R and the Cu-7-Nullip.