Combined oral contraception and hypercoagulation

Dalia Adukauskienė¹, Viktorija Miliauskienė²

¹Department of Intensive Care, Kaunas University of Medicine, ²Kaunas University of Medicine, Lithuania

Key words: hemostasis; oral contraception; estrogens; progestagens; hypercoagulation.

Summary. Combined oral contraceptives have been known as a well-established contraceptive method already more than 50 years. Unfortunately, this method is not absolutely safe. Combined oral contraceptives include estrogens and progestagens, which may stimulate the blood coagulation and promote the occurrence of deep-vein thrombosis; adverse effects of oral contraceptives are also notably associated with increased risk of stroke and myocardial infarction. The risk of hypercoagulation and venous thrombosis is most likely to be influenced by the dose of estrogens, but recent investigations have showed that the type of progestagens is very important as well.

Correspondence to D. Adukauskienė, Department of Intensive Care, Kaunas University of Medicine, Eivenių 2, 50009 Kaunas, Lithuania. E-mail: daliaadu@gmail.com

Received 4 December 2008, accepted 6 April 2010