ECs may be effective when administered vaginally. (Double the oral dose).

RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. -- Two common regimens for emergency contraception may be as effective when administered vaginally at twice the dose of oral administration, Dr. Eliran Mor said.

The oral Yuzpe regimen (500 g levonorgestrel plus 100 g ethinyl estradiol) can prevent up to 75% of pregnancies but causes nausea in half of the cases and vomiting in up to 20% of women who take it. An alternative oral emergency contraception (EC) regimen known as Plan B (750 g levonorgestrel) lowers but does not eliminate gastrointestinal side effects and is at least as effective as the Yuzpe regimen, she said at the annual meeting of the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society.

Vaginal administration seems likely to reduce or eliminate gastrointestinal side effects and enhance a direct local effect on the endometrium; the vaginal route has not been studied previously he said.

Nine women aged 20-28 years with regular menses enrolled in a prospective, open-label, crossover study in which five women were given the Yuzpe regimen orally and a week later received double the ...