Evolution of contraceptive implants: A review

Abstract

Oral contraceptives are widely used hormonal contraceptives compared to other dosage forms. There are modifications of hormonal contraceptives dosage forms to reduce side effects and improve effectivity and compliance during contraceptive usage. The implantable drug delivery system is a suitable contraception technique for women who are difficult to recall the time of use, such as pills. The contraceptive implant is a small size of rod, and it is placed in the upper arm subcutaneously. Many advantages by using contraceptive implants, such as high effectivity, easy to use, free from estrogen influences, fast recovery of the normal ovulatory cycle, safe for breastfeeding women, and safer for women that have the certain medical condition. However, implant removal procedures are becoming the problem because it requires trained personnel. The unscheduled period is also one of the disadvantages of implants. Although for most women, the implant could reduce blood loss when the period, for some cases it could prolong the period of time. In this article, we reviewed implant contraceptives development due to its application increased rapidly in the last decade. The history of implants, advantages, and disadvantages, and marketed products of the implant were also described in this article. The challenges and opportunities of the contraceptive implant development were summarized based on literature. Designing in situ forming implant and polymeric implant for contraception could be the great future in contraceptive implant development. Finally, contraceptive implants are promising hormonal contraception dosage forms to develop in unintended pregnancies prevention over the world.