IUD system benefits women with bleeding disorders

Women with inherited bleeding disorders often find menstruation troublesome. For them, a UK team reports, an intrauterine device that releases the hormone levonorgestrel seems helpful.

The levonorgestrel-releasing IUD is often used to treat excessive menstrual bleeding in women with normal blood clotting. Its usefulness for women with genetic conditions that impair coagulation has been investigated at the Royal Free Hospital in London by Dr. C. E. C. Kingman and colleagues.

The doctors placed the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system in 16 women with inherited bleeding disorders, all of whom had heavy periods that had not improved with previous medical treatment.

According to the team's report, published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, "All 16 women reported at 3 and 9 months that their periods were much better."

After nine months, "no women had any days of the month when their periods significantly affected their life and none reported any side effects," the investigators add.

The participants in this pilot study all had mild to moderate clotting-factor deficiencies, Kingman and colleagues note. "It would be interesting to see if this treatment is as effective in those with severe factor deficiencies," they say.

SOURCE: British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, December 2004.