Gross Hematuria Caused by Intravesical Migration of a Forgotten Intrauterine Device: A Case Report and Literature Review

Intrauterine device (IUD) is the second most widely used method of contraception worldwide. Up to 14% women prefer IUD for its attractive advantages such as cost effectiveness, high efficiency, and low complication rate. Despite these advantages, however, some complications may occur. One of these complications is uterine perforation and migration of the device to involve adjacent viscera such as peritoneum, bowel, vessels, and rarely bladder. IUD migration into the urinary bladder is uncommon, and only 70 cases are reported in the literature. Recurrent urinary tract infection and bladder calculi are the commonest presentations, and, rarely, women can present with gross hematuria. A high index of suspicion is needed in the evaluation of women who report pregnancy after IUD insertion as it might be the first clue to suspect migration. A forgotten and long-standing IUD increases the risk of uterine perforation and migration. A routine abdominal radiography, cystoscopy, and transvaginal ultrasonography are diagnostic. A computed tomography can also be employed in selected cases to delineate anatomic relations. Urologists should consider a vesical foreign body such as migrated IUD in women with recurrent lower urinary infections. Gross hematuria in a young woman should alert the urologist, and the evaluation should address a detailed contraceptive history. Every migrated IUD should be removed via endoscopy, laparoscopy, or open surgery. Proper follow-up and education of women before and after IUD insertion is also recommended to pick up on complications in time. Here, we report the successful open surgical treatment of a woman who had a forgotten IUD for 15 years and ultimately presented with gross hematuria due to trans-vesical migration. As to our literature search, there was no similar case reported from a urology center from Ethiopia.