Performance of Sino-implant (II) in routine service delivery in Madagascar

Sino-implant (II) is a low-cost subdermal contraceptive implant containing levonorgestrel that is currently labeled for 4 years of use. Widely used in China and Indonesia, it has been little studied elsewhere. We conducted a prospective study of Sino-implant (II) use by women in Madagascar.

We enrolled a total of 621 women 18 or older who had Sino-implant (II) inserted on day of enrollment, some in fixed clinical sites, and some at outreach sites. Half of the women were scheduled for follow-up visits at 3 months and at 12 months postinsertion (active follow-up cohort); the other half were advised to return if they desired care for any problem, thought they were pregnant or wanted the implants removed (passive surveillance cohort).

No insertion complications were reported. A total of 384 women returned for an earlier visit, and 351 returned for a later visit, for a total of 419 woman-years of observation. No postinsertion pregnancies or serious adverse events were observed. Twenty-eight implant removals were reported by 12 months, a cumulative removal probability of 7.3 per 100 women. Acceptability of the implants was very high, as was satisfaction with clinic services.

This is the first report on the performance of Sino-implant (II) from outside China and Indonesia and among the first in the English-language literature. These initial data from Madagascar indicate a favorable level of safety, effectiveness and acceptability during the first year of use.