ESSURE
PERMANENT CONTRACEPTION (Essure)
The Essure procedure is a permanent contraception device generally performed in the doctor’s office. Most women go home minutes after the procedure with normal activities resuming the following day. In an office setting, the patient is put to sleep with a short acting anesthetic. The physician places two small Essure inserts directly into the fallopian tubes under hysteroscopic guidance. The inserts are flexible and slide directly into the fallopian tube and conform to the tube. Over the next three months, the insert forms a fibrous scar and a natural barrier in the fallopian tubes. The barrier prevents sperm from ever reaching an egg. Until the barrier is complete, the patient must employ another form of birth control for approximately three months. Confirmation is done with a simple test by the radiologist in which dye is injected into the uterine cavity to determine that the fallopian tubes are blocked.