The effects of a copper-intrauterine device on the uterine artery blood flow in regularly menstruating women

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of a copper-intrauterine device (IUD) on uterine artery blood flow during the midluteal phase and on the first day of the menstrual cycle using pulsed colour Doppler ultrasonography. Twenty-one regularly menstruating women (18-45 years) who were willing to use copper-IUD contraception participated in the study. The patients were first examined without the IUD in the midluteal phase 6-9 days before the expected onset of menstruation and on the first day of menstruation, after which the IUD was inserted. Three months later the patients were examined again on the corresponding cycle days. The patients estimated the level of dysmenorrhoeic pain with a scoring system. Transvaginal ultrasonography with colour flow imaging was used to measure the pulsatility index (PI) in the uterine arteries. There were no significant changes in the uterine artery blood flow after the insertion of the IUD during menstruation or in the midluteal phase. In patients with increased IUD-related pain during menstruation (n = 5), however, there was a decrease in PI (2.87 +/- 0.52 versus 2.41 +/- 0.23, P = 0.05) after IUD insertion. The decrease in the mean PI was present in all five patients. In conclusion, copper-IUD does not induce any major changes in the resistance of the uterine artery blood flow, although during menstruation in patients with increased menstrual pain after IUD insertion there seems to be a decrease in the uterine artery PI.