Women 'offered quick sterilisation'

The technique could eliminate the need for surgery

Women could soon be able to be sterilised without having to undergo painful surgery.

Authorities in the United States are expected to shortly approve a new procedure which allows doctors to block a woman's fallopian tubes without making any incisions.

Advisors to the Food and Drug Administration have recommended that the technique, called Essure, be approved for use in the US.

The key issue here is wider contraceptive choice

Toni Belfield, Family Planning Association

The procedure is already available in Canada and Australia and some Europe countries including the UK.

The FDA is expected to give it a US license shortly.

The Essure procedure does not require any incisions. It can be performed without general anaesthesia and is typically completed in just 30 minutes.

Non-surgical option

It involves doctors placing tiny coils into the fallopian tubes through a woman's vagina.

The tiny coils are designed to permanently block the fallopian tubes so that sperm cannot reach the egg.

In trials, doctors found that 92% of those who underwent the treatment were able to return to work the very next day.

The technique has been developed by US company Conceptus.

Its chief executive Steve Bacich welcomed the FDA committee's decision.

He said: "We are pleased that the advisory committee has recommended Essure for approval."

Sterilisation is the most popular form of contraception among both men and women over 40.

In women, it usually a surgical procedure in which the fallopian tubes, which carry the egg from the ovary to the womb, are blocked, cut or sealed.

The UK Family Planning Association welcomed this new non-surgical procedure.

Its director of information Toni Belfield said it would offer more choice to women.

"The key issue here is wider contraceptive choice. We welcome the development of new methods of sterilization for women."