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Contraception - Management
UK Medical Eligibility Criteria for progestogen-only injectables

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 progestogen-only injectables.

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 method.
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, 2009b]
Table 2. UK Medical Eligibility Criteria (UKMEC) for use of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) and norethisterone enantate (NET-EN).
Clinical feature
UKMEC 1
No restrictions
UKMEC 2
Advantages generally outweigh risks
UKMEC 3
Requires expert clinical judgement
UKMEC 4
Contraindicated
Age
18–45 years
Menarche to < 18 years
> 45 years
Parity
Nulliparous
Parous
Breastfeeding
>= 6 weeks to < 6 months postpartum fully or partially breastfeeding
or >= 6 months postpartum
< 6 weeks postpartum
Postpartum, not breastfeeding
At any time
(although contraception is not necessary until 21 days after delivery)
Post-abortion
First- and second-trimester abortion
Immediately after septic abortion
Ectopic pregnancy
History of ectopic pregnancy
Smoking
Past or current smoker
Obesity
BMI >= 30 kg/m2
Blood pressure
Consistently elevated blood pressure: systolic > 140–159 mmHg or diastolic > 90–94 mmHg
History of high blood pressure during pregnancy
Adequately controlled hypertension
Consistently elevated blood pressure: systolic > 160 or diastolic > 95 mmHg
Vascular disease
Surgery
Major surgery without prolonged immobilization
Minor surgery without immobilization
History of pelvic surgery
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
Known thrombogenic mutations, e.g. Factor V Leiden, Prothrombin mutation, Protein S, Protein C, Antithrombin deficiencies
Current VTE (on anticoagulants)
Raynaud's disease
Primary Raynaud's disease
Secondary without lupus anticoagulant
Secondary Raynaud's disease with lupus anticoagulant
Systemic lupus erythematosus
 
SLE alone
Immunosuppressive treatment
For continuation
With severe thrombocytopenia
Positive (or unknown) antiphospholipid antibodies
For initiation
With severe thrombocytopenia
 
Headaches
For initiation and continuation
Non-migrainous headaches (mild or severe)
For initiation and continuation
Migraine headaches without aura (any age)
Migraine headaches with aura (any age)
Past history (>= 5 years ago) of migraine with aura (any age)
Epilepsy
Epilepsy
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
Irregular pattern (light, or heavy bleeding), but not suspicious
Heavy or prolonged bleeding
Unexplained vaginal bleeding (before evaluation) suspicious for serious underlying condition
Other gynaecological conditions
Endometriosis
Benign ovarian tumours, including cysts
Severe dysmenorrhoea
Gestational trophoblastic disease when hCG is normal, persistently elevated or malignant disease
Cervical ectropion
Endometrial cancer
Ovarian cancer
Uterine fibroids with or without distortion of the uterine cavity
CIN
Cervical cancer (awaiting treatment)
Cardiovascular conditions
Valvular and congenital heart disease: uncomplicated
Valvular and congenital heart disease: complicated (e.g. by pulmonary hypertension, atrial fibrillation, or history of subacute bacterial endocarditis)
Multiple risk factors for arterial cardiovascular disease
Stroke including TIA
Current and history of ischaemic heart disease
Gastrointestinal conditions
History of cholestasis: pregnancy-related
Inflammatory bowel disease
Viral hepatitis: acute or flare, carrier or chronic disease
Cirrhosis: mild compensated disease
Gallbladder disease: asymptomatic, symptomatic treated by cholecystectomy, medically treated or current
History of cholestasis: related to combined oral contraceptive
Liver tumours: benign (focal nodular hyperplasia)
Cirrhosis: severe decompensated disease
Liver tumours: benign (hepatocellular adenoma) and malignant (hepatoma)
Infections
Pelvic inflammatory disease: current or past (assuming no risk factors for STIs)
STIs: vaginitis, current purulent cervicitis or gonorrhoea, chlamydial infection (symptomatic or asymptomatic); or increased risk of STIs
High risk of HIV
HIV: not using anti-retroviral therapy
HIV: using antiretroviral therapy
Schistosomiasis
Pelvic and non-pelvic tuberculosis
Malaria
HIV: using antiretroviral therapy
AIDS
Diabetes
History of gestational diabetes
Diabetes: NIDDM and IDDM, non-vascular disease
Diabetes: 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)
DMPA with nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
DMPA with non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
DMPA with ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitors
NET-EN wit nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
NET-EN with non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
NET-EN with ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitors
Anticonvulsant therapy drug interactions (and consistent use of condoms is recommended)
DMPA with certain anticonvulsants (phenytoin, carbamazepine, barbiturates, primidone, topiramate, oxcarbazepine)
DMPA and NET-EN with lamotrigine
NET-EN with certain anticonvulsants (phenytoin, carbamazepine, barbiturates, primidone, topiramate, oxcarbazepine)
Antimicrobial therapy drug interactions (and consistent use of condoms is recommended)
DMPA and NET-EN with broad spectrum antibiotics, antifungals, antiparasitics.
DMPA with rifampicin or rifabutin
NET-EN with rifampicin or rifabutin†
BMI = body mass index; CIN = cervical intraepithelial neoplasia; DMPA = depot medroxyprogesterone acetate; hCG = human chorionic gonadotrophin; IDDM = insulin-dependent diabetes; NET-EN = norethisterone acetate; 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, as antiretroviral drugs may reduce the effectiveness of hormonal contraceptives. Similarly, the interaction of certain anticonvulsants, rifampicin or rifabutin, with NET-EN is likely to reduce the effectiveness of NET-EN. The effectiveness of DMPA is not likely to be decreased by certain anticonvulsants, rifampicin or rifabutin.
Adapted from: [FSRH, 2009b]

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