Predictors of success of reversal of sterilization

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prognostic variables effecting the successful pregnancy outcome of reversal of sterilization. Design: Demographic and clinical history data were collected prospectively. Setting: Division of Infertility and Reproductive Endocrinology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Patients and Intervention: Between 1981 and 1992, 217 consecutively referred patients underwent reversal of sterilization by a single surgeon using microsurgical techniques. Main Outcome Measures: Prognostic variables associated with success were examined using logistic regression and expressed as odds ratios with corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Results: Age at reversal was a significant factor with the odds of a successful outcome for those ≤35 years compared with those >35 years being 2.3 with a 95% confidence interval of 1.3 to 4.1. There was some evidence that average tubal length as categorized in 2-cm intervals was a significant prognostic factor with the odds of a successful outcome for those with an average length of >4 cm to those ≤4 cm being 5.3 with a 95% confidence interval of 1.4 to 20.0. Conclusions: Nonsubjective analysis of the prognostic variables of reversal of sterilization associates only age and tubal length of >4 cm with intrauterine pregnancy.