Obstet Gynecol

Mepivacaine eases IUD placement pain in nulliparous women

October 28, 2024

Intrauterine instillation of mepivacaine significantly reduced pain during IUD placement in nulliparous women compared with placebo in a recent double-blind, randomized trial.

Researchers randomized 151 nulliparous women to receive either 10 mL of 20 mg/mL mepivacaine or 10 mL of 0.9 mg/mL sodium chloride via a hydrosonography catheter 2 minutes before IUD placement. Pain levels were measured using a 100 mm visual analog scale (VAS) at specific time points.

Mepivacaine reduced mean VAS pain scores during IUD placement by 13.3 mm relative to placebo. Even after adjusting for the provider’s influence, the reduction remained significant at 12.2 mm. Additionally, 93.3% of women in the mepivacaine group reported tolerable pain, compared to 80.3% in the placebo group.

Source:

Envall N, et al. (2024, November). Obstet Gynecol. Mepivacaine instillation for pain reduction during intrauterine device placement in nulliparous women: a double-blinded randomized trial. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38796037/