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No, based on the weight of the evidence. The existence of post-female sterilization syndrome, in which women report having menstrual changes following female sterilization, has not been confirmed in large studies.
The changes reported by these women seem to be related to aging or stopping the use of oral contraceptives, not to the procedure.
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For many years there has been controversy over whether or not a "post-female sterilization syndrome" truly exists. The varying definitions of post-female sterilization syndrome usually refer to menstrual symptoms such as dysmenorrhea, heavy bleeding or spotting and changes in cycle length or regularity. It has also been suggested that those methods of occlusion resulting in more extensive damage to the fallopian tubes and mesosalpinx may be more likely to cause subsequent changes in menstrual function.
Some criticism faulted early studies on menstrual irregularities following sterilization for a failure to account for other factors leading to a change in menstrual function following sterilization such as pre-sterilization use of oral contraceptives possibly masking underlying menstrual dysfunction. Recent prospective studies that accounted for these confounding factors have failed to find a significant difference in the change in menstrual function between sterilized and non-sterilized women over time.
Most studies of menstrual change following sterilization have had periods of follow-up for one to two years, and have found no increase in risk of menstrual change. Studies with follow-up periods longer than one year have been inconsistent in their findings.
- Rulin MC, Davidson AR, Philliber SG, Graves WL, Cushman LF. Changes in menstrual symptoms among sterilized and comparison women: aprospective study. Obstetrics and Gynecology 1989;74:149-54.
- DeStefano F, Perlman JA, Peterson HB, Diamond EL. Long-term risk of menstrual disturbances after tubal
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Studies looking at laboratory determinations of hormone levels as a possible mechanism for the post-female sterilization syndrome have yielded little useful information. Many studies compare women undergoing sterilization to controls but do not measure the subjects' hormone levels preoperatively. Studies that did measure such levels preoperatively found no changes following sterilization (but these studies contained small numbers of women).
- Alvarez F, Faundes A, Brache V, Tejada AS, Segal S. Prospective study of the pituitary-ovarian function after tubal sterilization by the Pomeroy or Uchida techniques. Fertility and Sterility 1989;51:604-8.
- Rivera R, Gaitan J, Ruiz R, Hurley D, Arenas M, Flores C, et al. Menstrual patterns and progesterone circulating levels following different procedures of tubal occlusion. Contraception 1989; 40(2):157-69.
- Garza-Flores J, Vazquez-Estrada L, Reyes A, Valero A, Morales Del Olmo A, Alba V, et al. Assessment of luteal function after surgical tubal sterilization. Advances in Contraception 1991;7:371-7.
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