Clinical, ethical, and medical legal considerations on emergency contraception

To evaluate how many women required the so-called "emergency contraception" at our outpatient service and what the actual role is of this kind of pharmacological administration in interfering with ovulation and pregnancy, paying particular attention to the ethical and medico-legal aspects of this subject.

During the period from 1 December 1998 to 30 November 2003, emergency contraception was prescribed to a total of 1,160 women. With regard to the contraceptives used, in most cases (1,132, 97.6%) a combined oral estrogen-progestogen pill (ethinyloestradiol 0.05 mg plus levonorgestrel 0.25 mg) was prescribed; in some cases (20 patients, 1.8%) danazol (400 mg), in four women (0.3%) a progestin-only pill (levonorgestrel 0.75 mg), and in four other women (0.3%) an intrauterine device.

It does not come out that there were any pregnancies in our study patients since none of them, who were told to come back for follow-up, were seen at our termination of pregnancy service or delivery room.

The "Yuzpe regimen" of a combined oral estrogen-progestogen pill has been the most commonly used method for emergency contraception. A new method recently proposed, a progestin-only pill with levonorgestrel 0.75 mg, is having better results than the previous one, with a lower incidence of side-effects and higher efficacy. Moreover, the treatment with this method does not interfere in case of a pregnancy already being carried and cannot interrupt it.