Women are Less Informed on Anesthetic-Oral Contraceptive Interaction

Women undergoing operations are less informed regarding the interaction between anesthetic agent and contraceptive pill.

The anesthetic usage may put them at risk of an unplanned pregnancy, new research being presented at Euroanaesthesia, the annual meeting of the European Society of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC) in Milan, Italy, suggests.

Anesthesia Drug: Sugammadex

The drug sugammadex is widely used in anesthesia. Administered towards the end of the operation, before waking the patient up, it reverses the action of drugs given earlier in the procedure to relax the patient’s muscles.

‘The current suggestion is to inform women regarding the anesthetic they received and to use effective alternate mode of contraception.’
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Sugammadex may interact with the hormone progesterone and reduce the effectiveness of hormonal contraceptives, including the progesterone-only pill, combined pill, vaginal rings, implants and intra-uterine devices.

Current suggestion is to inform women of child-bearing age that they have received the drug and, due to increased risk of contraceptive failure, advise those taking oral hormonal contraceptives to follow the missed pill advice in the leaflet that comes with their contraceptives and advise those using other types of hormonal contraceptive to use an additional non-hormonal means of contraception for seven days.

However, in the authors’ experience, robust methods for identifying at-risk patients and informing them of the associated risk of contraceptive failures are not common practice across anesthetic departments within the UK and are likely further afield.

Spinal Anesthesia - Indications, Advantages, Disadvantages, Complications & Side Effects
Spinal anesthesia, a form of regional anesthesia involves the injection of certain anesthetic drugs into a fluid-filled space in which the spinal cord and the nerves arising from it are suspended using a fine long needle.

Researchers surveyed anesthetists at their hospital trust on their use of sugammadex and carried out a retrospective audit of sugammadex use in the Trust.

A seven-question survey was sent to all anesthetists at the Trust. Including consultants, junior doctors and physician assistants, this numbered almost 150 professionals.

Of the 82 anesthetists, 94% of respondents by saying that they were aware of the risk of contraceptive failure and 70% of respondents said they do not routinely discuss sugammadex with the patients who have received the drug.

A total of 234 patients were administered sugammadex during the six weeks covered by the audit.

Sixty-five (28%) of the patients given sugammadex were WCBA and 48 of these should have received advice on the risks of contraceptive failure. However, there was no record of it in the medical notes of any of the 48 women.

Dr. Passi says: “It is concerning that we are so seldom informing patients of the risk of contraceptive failure following sugammadex use.”

“Use of sugammadex is expected to rise as it becomes cheaper in the future and ensuring that women this receiving medicine are aware it may increase their risk of unwanted pregnancy must be a priority.”

Dr. Oliver adds: “We only studied one hospital trust but we expect the results to be similar in elsewhere in the UK.”

Dr. Passi adds: “It is important to note, however, that most patients receiving an anesthetic do not need a muscle relaxant and that sugammadex is one several drugs available to reverse muscle relaxation.”

In response to their findings, the study’s authors have created patient information leaflets and letters and programmed the Trust’s electronic patient record system to identify ‘at-risk’ patients and deliver electronic prompts to the anesthetists caring for them in the perioperative period.

Sugammadex is the only anesthetic drug known to have this effect.

Source-Medindia