Objective:

To evaluate the menstrual pattern and ovarian reserve in patients undergoing salpingectomy and bilateral tubal occlusion as definitive sterilization methods.

Material and methods:

A prospective, longitudinal, comparative, experimental, randomized, single blind study was carried out in patients with a desire for definitive sterilization as a contraceptive method. Patients were randomly assigned to perform bilateral tubal occlusion or salpingectomy. Six months after the procedure in each patient, the menstrual pattern and the serum determination of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and the antral follicle count were evaluated by transvaginal ultrasound as markers of ovarian reserve. The statistical analysis was carried out using the student's t-test for independent samples (comparison between groups) and dependent samples (intra-group comparison) for comparison of means and the x2 test for comparison of proportions.

Results:

Sixty patients were studied, 31 with bilateral tubal occlusion and 29 with salpingectomy. Significant increases were observed in the days of menstrual bleeding with respect to the baseline after bilateral tubal occlusion (p = .002) and salpingectomy (p = .008). No differences were observed between bilateral tubal occlusion and salpingectomy with respect to the surgical time to carry out the sterilization technique (p = .83), menstrual cycle duration (p = .35), duration of the days of menstrual bleeding (p = .40). No differences were observed in the serum levels of FSH (p = .75) nor in the antral follicle count (p = .44) between the groups.

Conclusions:

The menstrual pattern and the ovarian reserve are very similar in patients who undergo bilateral tubal occlusion and salpingectomy, although the two techniques increase the duration of menstrual bleeding after the procedure.