Print Print
CKS is no longer commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). NICE remains committed to providing a replacement service for CKS and is currently reviewing its options. In the meantime, although CKS content is now not being maintained, it still remains relevant and will continue to be made available. CKS content was generated under a programme of topic creation and update. To check if the topic you are viewing is current or out of date, please refer to the topic publication details by clicking on the 'How up-to-date is this topic?' link in the left hand menu on individual topic pages.

Contraception - Management
UK Medical Eligibility Criteria for use of the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system

The UK Medical Eligibility Criteria are a set of evidence-based recommendations designed to help women select the most appropriate method of contraception for specific clinical conditions without imposing necessary restrictions [FSRH, 2009b]. Each clinical condition has a recommendation for contraceptive use, categorized according to the balance of benefits and harms weighted by their probabilities for the typical user with the condition. The categories are defined in Table 1. Table 2 describes the UK Medical Eligibility Criteria for use of the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system.

Table 1. UK Medical Eligibility Criteria (UKMEC).
Category
Definition
UKMEC 1
A condition for which there is no restriction for the use of the contraceptive.
UKMEC 2
A condition where the advantages of using the method generally outweigh the theoretical or proven risks.
UKMEC 3
A condition where the theoretical or proven risks usually outweigh the advantages of using the method.
Provision of a method to a woman with a condition given a UKMEC Category 3 requires expert clinical judgement and/or referral to a specialist contraceptive provider since use of the method is not usually recommended unless other methods are not available or not acceptable.
UKMEC 4
A condition which represents an unacceptable health risk if the contraceptive method is used.
Source: [FSRH, 2007]
Table 2. UK Medical Eligibility Criteria (UKMEC) for use of the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (IUS).
Clinical feature
UKMEC 1
No restrictions
UKMEC 2
Advantages generally outweigh risks
UKMEC 3
Requires expert clinical judgement
UKMEC 4
Contraindicated
Pregnancy
Pregnancy
Age
>= 20 years
Menarche to < 20 years
Parity
Nulliparous
Parous
Postpartum, breastfeeding or non-breastfeeding; and including post-Caesarean Section
>= 4 weeks
48 hours to < 4 weeks
Puerperal sepsis
Post-abortion
First-trimester abortion
Second-trimester abortion
Immediately after septic abortion
Ectopic pregnancy
History of ectopic pregnancy
Smoking
Current or previous smoker
Obesity
BMI >= 30kg/m2
Blood pressure
Adequately controlled hypertension
Consistently elevated blood pressure systolic >140 mmHg or diastolic >90 mmHg
History of high blood pressure during pregnancy
Vascular disease
Surgery
History of pelvic surgery
Major surgery without prolonged immobilization
Minor surgery without immobilization
Major surgery with prolonged immobilization
Other risk factors for venous thromboembolism
Family history of VTE in a first degree relative
Immobility (unrelated to surgery), e.g. wheelchair use, debilitating illness
Varicose veins
Superficial thrombophlebitis
History of VTE
Current VTE (on anticoagulants)
Known thrombogenic mutations, e.g. Factor V Leiden, Prothrombin mutation, Protein S, Protein C, Antithrombin deficiencies
Raynaud's disease
Primary
Secondary without lupus anticoagulant
Secondary with lupus anticoagulant
Systemic lupus erythematosus
SLE alone
Severe thrombocytopenia
Immunosuppressive treatment
Positive (or unknown) antiphospholipid antibodies
Headaches
Non-migrainous headaches (mild or severe)
Migraine without aura (any age)
Migraine with aura (any age)
Past history (>= 5 years) of migraine with aura (any age)
Epilepsy
Epilepsy (see drug interactions section)
Psychological conditions
Depressive disorders
Breast disease
Benign breast disease or a family history of breast cancer
Undiagnosed mass
Carriers of known gene mutations associated with breast cancer (e.g. BRCA1)
History of breast cancer and no evidence of recurrence for 5 years
Current breast cancer
Vaginal bleeding
Initiation and continuation
Irregular without heavy bleeding
Initiation
Heavy or prolonged bleeding (regular and irregular patterns)
Continuation
Vaginal bleeding, suspicion for serious condition
Heavy or prolonged bleeding (regular and irregular patterns)
Initiation
Unexplained vaginal bleeding (before evaluation) suspicious for serious underlying condition
Other gynaecological conditions
Initiation and continuation
Benign ovarian tumours, including cysts
Cervical ectropion
Uterine fibroids without distortion of the uterine cavity
Endometriosis
Severe dysmenorrhoea
Gestational trophoblastic disease when hCG is normal or decreasing
Continuation
Cervical cancer, awaiting treatment
Endometrial cancer
Ovarian cancer
Initiation and continuation
Other abnormalities (including cervical stenosis or cervical lacerations) not distorting the uterine cavity or interfering with IUS insertion
CIN
Uterine fibroids with distortion of the uterine cavity
Distorted uterine cavity (any congenital or acquired uterine abnormality distorting the uterine cavity in a manner that is incompatible with IUS insertion)
Initiation
Cervical cancer, awaiting treatment
Endometrial cancer
Ovarian cancer
Initiation and continuation
Gestational trophoblastic disease when hCG is persistently elevated or malignant disease
Cardiovascular conditions
Valvular and congenital heart disease: uncomplicated
Initiation
Current and history of ischaemic heart disease
Stroke including TIA
Initiation and continuation
Multiple risk factors for arterial cardiovascular disease
Valvular and congenital heart disease: complicated (e.g. by pulmonary hypertension, atrial fibrillation, or history of subacute bacterial endocarditis)
Continuation
Current and history of ischaemic heart disease
Stroke including TIA
Gastrointestinal conditions
History of cholestasis: pregnancy related
Cirrhosis, mild (compensated)
Inflammatory bowel disease
Gallbladder disease: asymptomatic, symptomatic treated by cholecystectomy, medically treated, or current
History of cholestasis: combined oral contraceptive related
Liver tumours: benign (focal nodular hyperplasia)
Cirrhosis, severe (decompensated)
Liver tumours: benign (hepatocellular adenoma)
Liver tumours: malignant (hepatoma)
Infections
For initiation and continuation
Past pelvic inflammatory disease (assuming no current risk factors for STIs)
Schistosomiasis
Non-pelvic tuberculosis
Malaria
Viral hepatitis: acute or flare, carrier or chronic
For initiation and continuation
Other STIs (excluding HIV and hepatitis)
Vaginitis
Increased risk of STIs
High risk of HIV
HIV, not using antiretroviral therapy
HIV, using antiretroviral therapy
AIDS
For continuation
Current pelvic inflammatory disease
Chlamydia (symptomatic or asymptomatic)
Current purulent cervicitis or gonorrhoea
For initiation and continuation
HIV, using antiretroviral therapy
For continuation
Known pelvic tuberculosis
For initiation
Current pelvic inflammatory disease
Chlamydia (symptomatic or asymptomatic)
Current purulent cervicitis or gonorrhoea
Known pelvic tuberculosis
Diabetes
History of gestational diabetes
NIDDM and IDDM, non-vascular disease
With nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy; or other vascular disease
Thyroid
Simple goitre, hypothyroid, hyperthyroid
Haematological conditions
Anaemias: thalassaemia, iron deficiency, sickle cell disease
Dyslipidaemia
Known hyperlipidaemias
Antiretroviral therapy drug interactions (and consistent use of condoms is recommended)
For initiation and continuation
Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
Ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitors
For initiation
Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
Ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitors
Anticonvulsant therapy drug interactions
Certain anticonvulsants (phenytoin, carbamazepine, barbiturates, primidone, topiramate, oxcarbazepine)
Lamotrigine
Antimicrobial therapy drug interactions
Broad spectrum antibiotics
Antifungals
Antiparasitics
Rifampicin or rifabutin therapy
BMI = body mass index; CIN = cervical intraepithelial neoplasia; hCG = human chorionic gonadotrophin; IDDM = insulin-dependent diabetes; IUD = intrauterine device; NIDDM = non-insulin-dependent diabetes; STI = sexually transmitted infection; SLE = Systemic lupus erythematosus; TIA = transient ischaemic attack; VTE = venous thromboembolism.
† The consistent use of condoms is recommended for women with HIV or AIDs on antiretroviral therapy, to prevent HIV transmission.
‡ AIDS is classified as Category 3 for insertion and Category 2 for continuation unless the woman is clinically well on antiretroviral therapy, in which case both insertion and continuation are classified as Category 2.
Adapted from: [FSRH, 2009b]

© NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement