Spring clip tubal occlusion: a report of the first 400 cases

Between September 1972 and March 1974, laparoscopic tubal sterilization was performed on 394 patients with the use of a spring-loaded plastic clip under local analgesia and on an outpatient basis. Intravenous fentanyl and infra-umbilical infiltration and tubal spray with 1% lidocaine were found to be very acceptable and effective forms of analgesia. The average time spent by a patient in the hospital was 4 hours, 26 minutes. There was no major immediate complications apart from vasovagal reactions in 34 patients. Up to June 30, 1974, six patients in the series had become pregnant, not as a failure of the clip per se, but as a result of improper application of the clips. This seems to be a safe, simple, and effective method of female sterilization with great potentials of reversibility.