Objective:

The objective of the study was to present the experience of the family planning service Hospital General de México, in locating and removing no palpable subdermal single-rod contraceptive implants.

Materials and methods:

A descriptive, prospective, and cross-sectional study was performed from January 2011 to April 2018.

Results:

Hundred and sixty-four patients in whom the implant was not palpable were reviewed, the time between insertion and removal averaged 3.3 years (maximum 10 years and minimum 3 months). Three implants were inserted in the right arm, the rest on the left one. Forty-seven implants were found in fatty tissue (29%), 18 in fascia (11%), 94 in muscle (57%), 2 in the armpit (1.2%), and 3 were not found (1.8%).

Conclusions:

The no palpable implant is caused by an incorrect insertion technique. Migration should not be assumed as a cause of difficult location. Amount of non-palpable implants is not possible to determine due to a lack of records, but approximately 3% are considered non-palpable. Ultrasound has proven to be the study of choice to locate an incorrect inserted implant. In this case, the total number of implants was located, except in two patients.