Combined Oral Contraceptives and Vascular Thrombosis: A Single-Center Experience

BackgroundCombined oral contraceptives (COCs) are frequently prescribed for contraception, to regulate ovulation and treat endometriosis, and to control menopausal symptoms. A major risk of hormonal contraceptives is vascular thrombosis.MethodsA retrospective chart review of female patients with dee...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) Vol. 14; no. 6; p. e25865
Main Authors:	AlSheef, Mohammed, Abuzied, Yacoub, Alzahrani, Ghady R, AlAraj, Nihal, AlAqeel, Nada, Aljishi, Hala, Alomar, Mukhtar J, Zaidi, Abdul Rehman Z, Alarfaj, Ohoud M
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Palo Alto Cureus Inc 12-06-2022 Cureus
Subjects:	Anticoagulants Birth control Epidemiology Health risks Internal Medicine Mutation Obesity Obstetrics/Gynecology Thromboembolism Thrombosis Womens health Saudi Arabia
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	BackgroundCombined oral contraceptives (COCs) are frequently prescribed for contraception, to regulate ovulation and treat endometriosis, and to control menopausal symptoms. A major risk of hormonal contraceptives is vascular thrombosis.MethodsA retrospective chart review of female patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), or other sites of thrombosis or emboli seen in the thrombosis clinic of the department of internal medicine at a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia between March 2010 and February 2015 was performed to identify and characterize which women were taking COCs.ResultsOf 1,008 patients treated for DVT, PE, or other sites of thrombosis or emboli, 100 (9.9%) were taking COCs. Venous (98%) and arterial (2%) thromboses were seen. Overall, 62% of the patients experienced a DVT and 26% pulmonary emboli, and 20% of the patients experienced unusual sites of thrombosis. Furthermore, 53% were obese or morbidly obese. The incidence of venous thrombosis was the highest during the first year of COC use (73%). Of the patients, 8% had thrombophilia.ConclusionThis study characterizes Saudi women with thrombotic events taking COCs and identifies risk factors, including unusual sites of thrombosis. Most patients experienced the vascular event during the first year of taking COCs. Age of 40-50 years, obesity, and thrombophilia were the commonly observed risk factors.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2168-8184 2168-8184
DOI:	10.7759/cureus.25865