The IUD: a decade review

Abstract

The UK IUD Research Network which holds the greatest amount of IUD data in the United Kingdom was officially set up in 1971, and since that time the experiences of tens of thousands of women have been carefully monitored. During the last decade intrauterine devices have come and gone, some have disappeared with hardly a trace, whilst the going of others has been heralded by legal infighting involving untold millions of dollars. What happened to the Latex Leaf, the Birnberg Bow, the LEM, Ahmed’s Device (or the Hong Kong Triangle) and the stainless steel M Device (the M211 and M213) with and without a Teflon coating? These and others are either no longer with us or are fitted in such few numbers that they are no longer of international relevance. The most well publicised device that met its end during the last decade was the Dalkon Shield, perhaps more sinned against than sinning.