Evidence-based family planning: finding answers to clinical questions.

Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care 2003: 29(2) Clinical scenario A busy family planning clinic (FPC) finally draws to a close, during which you demonstrated the insertion of several intrauterine devices (IUDs) to a general practitioner (GP) registrar and also supervised him inserting an IUD for the first time. Over coffee at the end of the session he tells you that his GP trainer always gives prophylactic antibiotics when she inserts IUDs in order to prevent pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). He asks why you don’t do the same. Giving prophylactic antibiotics is not something that you think any of your family planning colleagues routinely do. Rather uncertainly you mumble something about it not being current policy locally. Driving home you wonder if there may be some important gaps in your knowledge. You recall the striking variation in the approaches that senior colleagues adopted towards PID during your postgraduate training. Once home you check your Family Planning Association (FPA) approved textbook. This advocates universal prophylactic antibiotic cover for IUD insertion.1 Noticing the family computer unattended, you seize the opportunity to peep on the Internet to see what else you can find.