Medics are failing to warn women that a common drug used in surgery could make their birth control fail, a study has revealed.
Women must be informed of the risks of sugammadex, researchers said in response to the findings. It is used towards the end of operations to reverse the effects of muscle-relaxant drugs.
In the study, doctors at a London hospital trust found no record within the medical notes of relevant patients that they had been given advice on the risks of contraceptive failure due to the drug. It can reduce the effectiveness of hormonal contraceptives, including the progesterone-only pill (mini-pill), combined pill, vaginal rings, implants and intra-uterine devices, they added.
Doctors at the department of anaesthesiology at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust surveyed anaesthetists at the trust on their use of sugammadex.
Of the 48 women of childbearing age who they deemed should have been given advice on the risks, none had any record of such a conversation in their medical notes, the researchers said. In addition, 70% of the 82 anaesthetists who responded to a survey at the trust said they do not routinely discuss sugammadex with the patients who have received the drug.
Dr Matt Oliver, one of the leaders of the study, said: “We only studied one hospital trust but we expect the results to be similar elsewhere in the UK.” Another of the researchers, Dr Neha Passi, described their findings as “concerning”.
Dr Passi said: “It is concerning that we are so seldom informing patients of the risk of contraceptive failure following sugammadex use. Use of sugammadex is expected to rise as it becomes cheaper in the future and ensuring that women receiving this medicine are aware it may increase their risk of unwanted pregnancy must be a priority.”
Researchers behind the study, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC) in Milan this weekend, said sugammadex is the only drug used in anaesthesia known to have such an effect.
The study authors said they had compiled patient information leaflets and letters and also programmed their trust’s electronic patient record system to identify “at-risk” patients and deliver electronic prompts to the anaesthetists caring for them.
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