A new study suggests that a different method of anesthetic delivery could help reduce pain for women receiving an intrauterine device (IUD). Researchers found that women who received local anesthetic through a catheter prior to IUD insertion experienced less pain than those who did not receive any anesthesia or received a painful injection of local anesthetic.
Currently, doctors often insert IUDs with no anesthesia or with an injection of local anesthetic into the tissue around the cervix, which can be painful. The new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that introducing a small amount of local anesthetic into the uterus through a thin plastic catheter can make the procedure much less painful.
Lead researcher Karin Elgemark, a doctoral student at Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said that this method is simple and easy to use in everyday clinical practice. The study recruited 370 women aged 18 to 31 who had never given birth and randomly assigned them to receive either a local anesthetic or a saline solution through a catheter.
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The results showed that average pain scores were significantly lower among those who received the anesthetic, with scores of about 44 compared to nearly 59 in the control group, on a scale of 0 to 100. Additionally, 98% of patients who received the anesthetic found the pain tolerable, and more than half found the procedure easier than expected.
Helena Kopp Kallner, a professor of clinical sciences at Karolinska Institute, noted that this approach not only reduces pain but also makes the procedure more acceptable to patients. They also noted that this method has not been compared to other anesthetic options, and further studies are needed to determine its effectiveness.
Women who are concerned about pain during IUD insertion should talk to their doctor about their anesthetic options. More information on IUDs is available from Planned Parenthood. Patients can use this resource to learn more about the procedure and discuss their options with their healthcare provider.
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