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Contraception - emergency - Management
What contraindications and cautions are important when prescribing/providing oral ulipristal acetate emergency contraception?
- Contraindications
- Hypersensitivity. Apart from hypersensitivity to the ingredients, there are no medical contraindications to the use of oral ulipristal acetate for emergency contraception.
- Pregnancy. Ulipristal acetate should not be used is the woman is suspected or known to be pregnant.
- Cautions
- Hepatic impairment. As there have been no studies to monitor safety, ulipristal acetate is not recommended in those with severe hepatic impairment.
- Severe asthma. Ulipristal acetate is not recommended if severe asthma is insufficiently controlled by oral glucocorticoids, because ulipristal acetate has high affinity for glucocorticoid receptors and antiglucocorticoid effects have been observed in animal studies.
- Severe lactose intolerance, including galactose intolerance, Lapp lactase deficiency, or glucose-galactose malabsorption (all rare), as the tablet contains lactose.
[ABPI Medicines Compendium, 2009]
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