Intrauterine device and ectopic pregnancy.

During the 1966-1975 period a total of 345 ectopic pregnancies was diagnosed in Turku Finland. In this same period the mean incidence of ectopic pregnancy was 0.88% of deliveries and 0.66% of pregnancies. During the decade the annual rise of incidences has been significant. During the 1966-1970 period the incidence of ectopic pregnancies to deliveries was 0.68; the incidence to total pregnancies was 0.57. Since 1972 the number of insertions has increased considerably. During the 1971-1975 period the incidence of ectopic pregnancies to deliveries was 1.09; the incidence to total pregnancies was 0.73. The annual number of ectopic pregnancies with IUDs in situ during the study period was 59 (17.1% of all ectopic pregnancies). The increase in the number of ectopic pregnancies has been significant. When the consecutive 5-year periods again are compared during the latter period the number of ectopic pregnancies is significantly higher. Ectopic pregnancies were found to occur during use of all registered types of IUDs. There were 26 ectopic pregnancies with Lippes loop users 14 with the Dalkon shield 10 with the Copper T 4 with the Saf-T coil 2 each with the Copper 7 and the Bow and 1 with the Inhiband.