A comparative clinical trial of the tubal ring versus the Rocket clip for female sterilization.

Studies of application of the Rocket clip compared with the tubal ring were conducted at three sites. Procedures were randomly assigned to the patients; 332 women were sterilized with the tubal ring and 331 were sterilized with the Rocket clip. The occlusion devices were applied via a minilaparotomy incision. Surgical difficulties and injuries and technical failures occurred with comparable frequency in the two groups. There were two method failures in each tubal occlusion group; the 24-month life-table pregnancy rate was 1.0 per 100 women in the tubal ring group and 0.9 per 100 in the Rocket clip group. The Rocket spring-loaded clip appears to be as safe, effective, and easy to apply as the tubal ring for tubal occlusion.