Is an Atraumatic Tenaculum on the Cervix Less Painful than a Single-tooth Tenaculum?

Allen, Rebecca H. MD, MPH

Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Women and Infants' Hospital, Providence, RI

Dr. Allen reports she is a Nexplanon trainer for Merck, a Liletta trainer for Actavis, and on the advisory board for Bayer, Actavis, and Vermillion.

OB/GYN Clinical Alert 32(9):p 65-67, January 2016.

SYNOPSIS: In this randomized, controlled trial, there was no difference in pain scores between the standard single-tooth tenaculum (mean 33/100) and the atraumatic vulsellum tenaculum (mean 35/100) (P = 0.58). The time to control bleeding at the tenaculum site differed with 1.1 minutes in the single-tooth tenaculum group and 0.4 minutes in the atraumatic vulsellum tenaculum group (P = 0.001).

SOURCE: Doty N, MacIsaac L. Effect of an atraumatic vulsellum versus a single-tooth tenaculum on pain perception during intrauterine device insertion: A randomized controlled trial. Contraception 2015;92:567-571.