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Introduction. Pregnancy planning is one of the leading areas in the population reproductive health care, in particular preventing and reducing the number of abortions. Aim. To evaluate the uterine bleeding profile and other adverse events associated with the use of an etonogestrel subcutaneous contraceptive implant (Implanon NXT®). Materials and methods. We analysed medical records of female patients (n = 153) who used Implanon NXT® in the period from 2013 to 2023, records of adverse events, uterine bleeding, bleeding management techniques and reasons given by women for discontinuing the use of implants. Results. The median duration of uterine bleeding episodes ranged from 7 to 13 days within a three-year period of use of Implanon NXT®. During the first 3 months, the proportion of women with prolonged bleeding was higher as compared to all other observation periods and gradually decreased during the first year of use of the drug from 41.2 to 15.8%. 40 patients with complaints of unsatisfactory uterine bleeding patterns required adjustment of drug dosages; 14 women continued to use Implanon NXT® after adjustment of drug dosages and repeated visits. 17.0% (n = 26) of patients required early removal of the implant. Due to pregnancy planning, the implant was removed early in 13% (n = 20) of patients. The most common adverse events included functional ovarian cysts, mastalgia, increased appetite, decreased libido, dizziness, acne; most of them were transient and did not require any management, and were not considered the reason for implant removal. Conclusion. The number of uterine bleeding episodes in patients using the etonogestrel implant was comparable to the normal menstrual cycle. Some women had changes in the uterine bleeding patterns, such as amenorrhea, frequent and prolonged bleeding, which reduced the duration of use of this contraception method. At the same time, combined oral contraceptives were the most effective as compared to other drugs used in correction regimens.
Межевитинова et al. (Wed,) studied this question.