Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Tubal Ligation
Tubal ligation (getting your "tubes tied") is a type of surgery. It prevents a woman from getting pregnant. It is a permanent form of birth control, and is effective right away.
The surgery cuts, ties, or seals the fallopian tubes. This blocks the path between the ovaries and the uterus. The sperm cannot reach the egg to fertilize it, and the egg cannot reach the uterus. You get the surgery in a hospital or outpatient surgical center. It usually takes about 30 minutes. Almost all women go home the same day. They can return to most normal activities within a few days.
Tubal ligation can sometimes be reversed. The reversal is major surgery, and does not always work.
It sits within Women, Pregnancy and Reproduction and Female Reproductive System.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Tubal Ligation
29 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Using the CompuFlo® CathCheck™ System to Check Epidural Catheter Function Before Tubal Ligation: A Pilot StudyOhio State University
- V-NOTES Versus Laparoscopy for Sterilization and Sexual FunctionTepecik Training and Research Hospital
- Comparative Analysis of Spinal Anesthesia Versus General Anesthesia for vNOTESUniversity of Kansas Medical Center
- Stop Ovarian Cancer Young; Effect of the Opportunistic Salpingectomy on Age of MenopauseRadboud University Medical Center
Research already completed
- Video-Based Preoperative Education in Laparoscopic Tubal LigationOrdu University
- TUbal LIgation Per Differents Endoscopic Routes and Sexuality (TULIPES)University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand
- "My Decision" Tubal Sterilization Decision Support ToolUniversity of Pittsburgh
- ED50 and ED95 of Isobaric Bupivacaine for Post-Partum Bilateral Tubal LigationUniversity of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
- Driving Factors of Decision Making for Prophylactic Salpingectomy Versus Tubal Ligation at the Time of Cesarean SectionBartin State Hospital
- Opportunistic Salpingectomy for Permanent Sterilization at the Time of Cesarean DeliveryMayo Clinic
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Sterilization by LaparoscopyAmerican College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
- Tubal LigationMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Reproductive SterilizationNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Sterilization, TubalNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Sterilization, Tubal. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Tubal Ligation, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.