[Use of estrogens in post-coital contraception. Our case material of 243 cases]

294 women between 18 and 35 years of age -- without absolute contraindications to estrogen use with regular menses who had had intercourse from 3 days before to 2 days after presumptive ovulation -- were given ethinyl estradiol (EE) in dosages of 5 mg/day and domperidon 20 ng twice/day for 5 days between and 72 hours from intercourse. Follow-up visits 30 days later showed that only 243 women had adhered to the protocol. It was calculated that 32.9 pregnancies were statistically probable in the absence of therapy in the study group; none actually occurred. Even among the 27 women who presented not having followed the therapeutic protocol correctly there were no pregnancies. Side-effects such as vomiting nausea and breast tenderness occurred in 54% of the patients even though domperidon is an efficacious anti-emetic.