Despite reliability and long-term use being important advantages, fear of pain and needles make LARCs less appealing to young people. Current LARCs meet some, but not all expectations of adolescents and young women.

BackgroundT-shaped intrauterine devices (IUDs) with a copper surface area of 380 mm2 and copper bands on the transverse arms are the most effective types of copper-containing IUDs. A small-sized ‘gold standard’ IUD is available but there has been little research to compare the effects of this small-sized IUD to its standard-sized counterpart.AimTo determine discontinuation rates and reasons for discontinuation at 1 year of the small-sized Mini TT380 Slimline IUD compared with the standard-sized TT380 Slimline.MethodsThe clinical records of women fitted with Mini TT380 Slimline (‘mini’) IUDs were compared with those of women fitted with standard-sized TT380 Slimline (‘standard’) IUDs over a 3-year period (2013–2016).ResultsClinical records were available for 67 women fitted with a mini IUD (mean age 23 years, 64% nulliparous) and 63 women fitted with a standard IUD (mean age 25 years, 39% nulliparous). At 1 year, twice as many standard IUD users (32%, n=20) had discontinued their IUD use compared with mini IUD users (15%, n=10). Complaints of pain and bleeding were more than double (70%, n=14) in those women who discontinued standard IUD use compared with those who discontinued using the mini IUD (30%, n=3). These differences were statistically significant and were unrelated to parity.ConclusionsMore women using a standard-sized ‘gold standard’ IUD rather than its smaller counterpart complained of pain and bleeding, leading to higher discontinuation at 1 year. More research on the association between size and discontinuation of these IUDs is needed.

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ObjectiveTo compare the expected and actual pain experienced with the insertion of intrauterine contraception in women, and to determine whether either of these are related to their personal circumstances, or affected their satisfaction with the procedure.DesignA convenience sample of 89 women aged 15–50 years attending a sexual health clinic for same day intrauterine contraception insertion were given a questionnaire that they completed following the procedure. The women were asked to rate their expectation of pain prior to insertion and to rate the actual pain they experienced immediately after insertion, on a scale of 1–10, with 10 being severe pain. Information on the women’s circumstances and their level of satisfaction with the procedure was also obtained.ResultsOverall, the median actual pain experienced by women during insertion (4) was significantly lower than the expected pain median (6) (P<0.001). For those women who had not had a previous vaginal delivery, actual pain was significantly higher compared with women who had had a previous vaginal delivery (median [interquartile range]: 6 [3.5–7.5] and 3 [1–5], P<0.001, respectively), but there was no significant difference between expected and actual pain experiences. In women who had a previous vaginal delivery, actual pain was much lower than expected (P<0.001). Neither actual nor expected pain experiences were linked to any other sociodemographic reproductive health or service use factors.ConclusionAll women had a high expectation of pain prior to IUD insertion, but for those who had had a previous vaginal delivery, this was significantly greater than that actually experienced. Satisfaction levels overall were high. Counseling of women should take into account their expected pain prior to IUD insertion and consideration should be given to alternative and additional methods of pain relief in women who have not had a previous vaginal delivery.