Efficacy and safety of herbal spermicidal contraceptive, Consap

Consap is a locally acting, non-hormonal, herbal spermicidal contraceptive isolated from Sapindus mukorosii. It has been observed to be free from systemic side-effects such as nausea, vomiting and irregularities in the menstrual cycle. It is a woman-controlled reversible method which needs to be used before intercourse. It has additional antitrichomonas activity and is more vaginal-friendly. In the present study, 521 women volunteers in the reproductive age group have been screened at six centres. Of these, 470 were included in the trial covering 2076 months of Consap cream use with 2358 total cycles covered during the study. Out of a total, 324 cases who used this cream for at least 6 months and more were considered to have completed the trial. In this study only nine patient failures and four method failure pregnancies resulted with a Pearl index of 2.3, which is acceptable for the general population. This study thus shows that Consap cream when used as prescribed is an effective contraceptive. It is a good alternative for women who do not want to use oral contraceptive pills or intrauterine devices.