Birth control implant migration

The French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety (ANSM) has released a warning about birth control implants following some cases of the devices moving within the body.

Birth control implants for insertion in the arm are typically stick-like in shape, the size of a matchstick, and flexible. Approximately 200 000 women choose this form of birth control every year, and implantation has become a more or less routine procedure, yet errors can lead to certain risks.

ANSM has now released a warning regarding the risk of neurovascular lesions developing at the implant site and implants migrating into the blood vessels or chest. Be assured, migration is a rare phenomenon, with only 18 cases ever having been reported in the last 30 years, but it is a risk unfortunately not yet fully grasped by the medical world or the women using these products.

Hence why an informative campaign will soon be launched and a special patient leaflet distributed when any devices are implanted, encouraging patients to check on their implant’s position once or twice a month and contact their doctor should they no longer be able to feel it.