New study shows: Risk of thrombosis decreases after stopping birth control pills

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This finding is of great importance for women who use hormonal contraceptives such as the birth control pill, vaginal ring or hormonal patch and have to undergo a major surgical procedure, say the University of Geneva (Unige) and the University Hospital of Geneva (HUG). It was announced on Thursday. Particular attention should be paid to the risk of blood clots during major surgeries.

According to the researchers, the study published in the specialist journal “Blood” provides the first indications about the best time to stop taking the pill before medical procedures.

According to the report, what are commonly called combined hormonal contraceptives, that is, contraceptives that contain both estrogen and gestagen, increase the risk of thrombosis by three to five times. According to the Swiss Gynecological Society, 1 to 2 in 10,000 women aged 15 to 34 in Switzerland suffer from thrombosis.

For the study, the research team took blood samples from 66 women using combined hormonal contraceptives at six different times before and after stopping the contraceptive. These samples were then compared with the blood of a control group of 28 women who did not use combined hormonal contraceptives.

Blood clotting markers showed researchers how high the risk of thrombosis was. Within the first two weeks after stopping birth control, 80 percent of the clotting markers had disappeared, and after a month, 85 percent had disappeared.

This suggests that the likelihood of blood clots associated with birth control methods such as the pill returns to near-normal levels within two to four weeks of stopping them, researchers say.

(SDA)

Source : Blick