Low-dose ethinylestradiol/levonorgestrel.

Abstract

Low-dose ethinylestradiol/levonorgestrel 20 microg/100 microg is a combined oral contraceptive that prevents pregnancy primarily by inhibiting ovulation. The Pearl index (pregnancies per 100 woman-years of use) with ethinylestradiol/levonorgestrel 20 microg/100 microg was 0.88 and the cumulative pregnancy rate was 1.9% at the end of a 3-year open-label trial (1708 women with 26 554 evaluable cycles). The contraceptive efficacy of ethinylestradiol/levonorgestrel 20 microg/100 microg was similar to that of other low-dose combined oral contraceptives containing ethinylestradiol 20 or 35 microg in a 6-cycle trial (463 evaluable women). Ethinylestradiol/levonorgestrel 20 microg/100 microg is well tolerated; adverse events were those commonly associated with combined oral contraceptives. Headache and metrorrhagia (2% of women) were the most common adverse events leading to treatment discontinuation in the 3-year trial. Cycle control in open-label trials in women receiving up to 36 cycles of ethinylestradiol/levonorgestrel 20 microg/100 microg was generally good, with the incidence of intermenstrual bleeding being highest during the first few cycles of use and decreasing thereafter.

• Authors: Toni M Dando, Monique P Curran
• Journal: Drugs (Drugs) Vol. 65 Issue 16 Pg. 2299-306; discusion 2307-8 ( 2005) ISSN: 0012-6667 [Print] New Zealand
• PMID: 16266199 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Contraceptives, Oral, Combined
• Ethinyl Estradiol
• Levonorgestrel

Topics

• Contraceptives, Oral, Combined (administration & dosage, adverse effects, therapeutic use)
• Ethinyl Estradiol (administration & dosage, adverse effects, therapeutic use)
• Female
• Humans
• Levonorgestrel (administration & dosage, adverse effects, therapeutic use)