IUD and salpingitis: a prospective study of pathomorphological changes in the oviducts in IUD-users.

A prospective study on pathomorphological changes in the oviducts in 253 women who underwent voluntary sterilization via posterior colpotomy performed at the Catharina Ziekenhuis, Eindhoven, was performed in order to investigate the effect of the intrauterine device (IUD). Some form of salpingitis was found in 54% of the IUD-group and in only 6% of the control group (P less than 10(-6), four-fold table, chi-squared test.) Microbiological study in 51 patients did not explain the pathoanatomical changes. As the IUD-and control-groups were comparable in all investigated parameters, the inflammatory reaction must be caused by the method of contraception.