Hot water as a tubal occluding agent.

Experimental studies in living rabbits and autopsy human oviducts are presented which demonstrate a reasonable possibility that one could introduce hot water into the proximal portion of the human oviduct with a hysteroscope or balloon catheter, to destroy the epithelium of the first portion of that structure, leading to its occlusion, while still maintaining safety for the woman because the water would cool to tolerable temperatures before it entered the peritoneal cavity. Before trying the procedure in human beings, research on non-human primates is clearly needed.