1. Various combined oral contraceptive (COC) pills. A. Extended-use COCs
Various combined oral contraceptive (COC) pills. A. Extended-use COCs. Each of the three sequential cards of pills is taken. Placebo pills (peach) are found in the bottom card. B. 21/7 triphasic COCs. Active pills are taken for 3 weeks and are followed by seven placebo pills (green). With triphasic pills, the combination of estrogen and progestin varies with color changes, in this case, from white to blue to dark blue. C. 24/4 monophasic COCs. Monophasic pills contain a constant dose of estrogen and progestin throughout the pill pack. With 24/4 dosing regimens, the number of placebo pills is decreased to four.
Source: Chapter 5. Contraception and Sterilization, Williams Gynecology, 2e
Citation: Hoffman BL, Schorge JO, Schaffer JI, Halvorson LM, Bradshaw KD, Cunningham F, Calver LE. Williams Gynecology, 2e; 2012 Available at: Accessed: November 03, 2017
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