Emergency contraception - A narrative review of literature

Background: Emergency contraception includes several methods of contraception that can be used after unprotected sexual intercourse, after failure of any used method of contraception or in case of sexual abuse, to prevent pregnancy. Purpose of the study: The aim of the study was to analyze the available methods of emergency contraception, their mechanisms of action, efficacy, forms of administration, clinical applications and possible adverse effects. Material and method: PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane datebases were searched for articles from 2010 to 2024 about emergency contraception. Results: The analyzed types of emergency contraception included single oral dose of ulipristal acetate, single oral dose of levonorgestrel and intrauterine system releasing levonorgestrel or copper intrauterine device. Taking emergency contraception in the optimum time according to the drug characteristics allows for avoiding pregnancy in more than 90% of cases (depending on the type of emergency contraception and time from unprotected intercourse). The analyzed literature shows that intrauterine copper intrauterine device is the most effective method of emergency contraception, also together with intrauterine system releasing levonorgestrel leading to the lowest rate of adverse effects. Conclusions: Taking emergency contraception can result in various adverse effects, therefore it should be introduced after thorough analysis of woman's medical history, including gynecological and obstetric history and potential contraindications. Additionally, the patient should receive detailed information about the drug mechanism of efficacy and potential adverse effects.