Evaluation of the FemTest device pre- and post-sterilization

A study was conducted at the Universidad Austral, Valdivia, Chile, School of Medicine, to evaluate the safety, ease of use and effectiveness of the FemTest device* (FT), a new instrument to evaluate tubal patency. A total of 110 interval women were admitted to the trial between February 1985 and August 1986, all of whom wanted to be sterilized. The mean age of the women was 32.2 years and the mean number of live births was 3.1. Women underwent FT and hysterosalpingography (HSG) procedures pre- and post-sterilization in order to compare the results. Sixty-seven women were surgically sterilized and forty-three women were sterilized with transcervical application of methylcyanoacrilate. Complications and complaints experienced by the study participants included mild to moderate discomfort during FT procedures. Assessment of patient discomfort was not done during the HSG procedures. FT and HSG findings agreed in 97.2% of the women prior to sterilization. The simplicity and effectiveness of the FT procedure suggests it will be an excellent method to test for tubal patency after a non-surgical female sterilization procedure.