Tubal ligation is a permanent birth control method to prevent pregnancy.
Tubal ligation is referred to as getting your fallopian tubes surgically cut, burned, or closed with rings, bands or clips.
After this surgery a woman can no longer get pregnant.
Alternative Names Tubal ligation is also called Tubal sterilization, Tying the tubes, Hysteroscopic tubal occlusion procedure, and more formally bilateral tubal ligation (BTL).
How is Tubal Ligation Done? Tubal ligation can be done either through laparoscopy or minilaparotomy method.
It can be done in a hospital or outpatient clinic under general, local or spinal anesthesia.
It may also be done during a cesarean delivery or right after the childbirth through a small surgical cut near the navel.
What the Surgery Involves? During a laparoscopic surgery, your surgeon will make one or two small incisions in your abdomen, usually one under the belly button and another above the pubic bone.
Gas may be pumped into your belly to inflate it in order to give surgeon a better view of the uterus and fallopian tubes.
A lighted telescope (called a laparoscope) is inserted through an incision to look at the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries.
A second instrument will be inserted to block off your tubes.
The both tubes are cut, tied, burned with an electrical current (cauterized) or clamped off with a small clip or ring (band).
The surgery usually takes 30 minutes to complete and, in most cases, patients feel well enough to go home on the day of surgery.
How the Surgery Works? Tubal ligation works by closing the fallopian tubes that connect the ovaries to the uterus.
After the surgery eggs cannot move from the ovary through the tubes to reach the uterus.
It also prevents male sperm from reaching the fallopian tube to fertilize an egg, thus preventing pregnancy from occurring.
Candidacy This kind of birth control method may be an excellent choice for women who don't want any more biological children.
Couples who have decided they are finished having children should consider a tubal ligation.
It is a viable option for women who have problems with the side effects of other forms of birth control.
Complications A patient may experience slight abdominal pain and/or tiredness.
Very few patients may feel dizzy or nauseous or experience shoulder pain or abdominal cramps.
Soaring throat is likely if the surgery is done under general anesthesia.
These symptoms are temporary and usually go away within a week.
Once the woman returns to her usual routine, she may feel fatigued later in the day and have slight soreness over the surgical cuts.
These discomforts are not uncommon and can be relieved with mild medication.
Risks of the Procedure Although tubal ligation is a safe procedure but as with any other type of surgery it does carry some risks.
Some possible risks include bleeding from a skin incision, infection, reaction to anesthetics, uterine perforation, menstrual cycle disturbances and gynecological problems.
Other possible risk includes damage to surrounding organs inside the abdomen.
The organs that may get injured from surgical instruments include bowels, bladder, blood vessels, nerves, uterus and ovaries.
The injured organ may need more surgery for repair.
One major risk is incomplete closure of fallopian tubes that could make pregnancy still possible.
Women who have had their tubes tied remain at an increased risk of a tubal (ectopic) pregnancy if pregnancy occurs after the procedure.
In the tubal pregnancy, egg fertilization occurs in the Fallopian tubes which can be dangerous and can require emergent medical care.
Cost The procedure may seem costly initially, but it can be a cost-effective option as, unlike other birth control methods, for tubal ligation you only have to pay for once.