Urgent warning to all women taking contraception as common procedure could make it less effective

WOMEN who take contraception have been warned that a common procedure could make their birth control less effective.

Anaesthetics are commonly used during tests and operations to numb sensation in certain areas of the body or induce sleep.

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But researchers in London found that it could increase the risk of pregnancy in women who use methods such as the pill.

Other forms of contraception impacted include the progesterone-only pill (mini-pill), combined pill, vaginal rings, implants and intra-uterine devices.

Drug sugammadex is widely used in anaesthesia and doctors at a London hospital trust found no record within the notes of relevant patients that they had been given advice on the risks of birth control failure.

The drug is usually given towards the end of the operation to reverse the action of medications given earlier in surgery which relax the patient’s muscles.

Experts said the medication is known to interact with the hormone progesterone – which is in various forms of contraception.

Doctors at the department of anaesthesiology at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust quizzed anaesthetists on their use of the drug.

They found that of 48 women who should have been given advice on the risks – none had been advised that the use of the medication could result in unwanted pregnancy.

Researchers also revealed that 70 per cent of the 82 anaesthetists who responded said they do not routinely discuss sugammadex with the patients who have received it.

Dr Matt Oliver, one of the leaders of the study said while just one trust was studied, the result would likely be the same across the UK.

Another researcher Dr Neha Passi said the findings were “concerning”.

Dr Passi said: “It is concerning that we are so seldom informing patients of the risk of contraceptive failure following sugammadex use.

“Use of sugammadex is expected to rise as it becomes cheaper in the future and ensuring that women receiving this medicine are aware it may increase their risk of unwanted pregnancy must be a priority.”

The researchers said that sugammadex is the only anaesthetic drug known to have such an effect.

Medics have used patient records to identify at risk patients and will deliver electronic prompts to the anaesthetists caring for them.