Is diathermy safe in women with copper-bearing IUDs?

Ultrasound and short-wave diathermy are widely used in physiotherapy to induce heating of deep tissues, since this causes a concomitant increase in local blood flow. A metallic implant in the treated field is generally regarded as a contra-indication to diathermy because of the risk of thermodamage to surrounding tissues. It is not certain, however, if copperbearing IUDs contain sufficient metal as to constitute a risk. In order to exclude the possibility that diathermy might lead to intra-uterine burns in women using copperbearing IUDs a technique was devised of measuring temperatures in the copper wire of an IUD in situ during short-wave an ultrasonic therapy. The results indicate diathermy to be perfectly safe in women whit copper-bearing IUDs.