[Use of tubal sterilization by minilaparotomy after vaginal delivery in a developing country. A retrospective analysis of 347 cases at the Yaoundé University Gynecologic Clinic (Cameroon)].

The authors report the results of a retrospective study of 347 cases of tubal ligation collected between January 1985 and December 1991 in the maternity unit of the Yaoundé teaching hospital group. The tubal ligations were performed through minilaparotomy with local anesthesia using the method of Pomeroy. The frequency of tubal ligation evaluated by 3.8 per cent did not change during the period of this study. The authors note that the majority of patients in this study asked for a tubal ligation only when they had 5 or more surviving children. The authors conclude that because of poorly equiped medical infrastructures in the context of developing countries tubal ligation through minilaparotomy should be promoted by the contraceptive methods in family planning programs.