Publication:

Study of the role of hysteroscopy with dilation and curettage in post- menopausal bleeding: a cross sectional study

Background Abnormal uterine bleeding is defined as any type of bleeding in which the duration, frequency or amount is excessive for an individual patient. Hysteroscopy has ushered a new era in the evaluation of abnormal uterine bleeding. With this background, we conducted a study to find the role of hysteroscopy with dilation and curettage in post-menopausal bleeding.

Methods It was an observational study conducted in the department of obstetrics and gynecology of a tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra. Post-menopausal patients with abnormal uterine bleeding, admitted in the period of March 2018 to September 2019 were included in the study. A pretested and predesigned questionnaire was used to collect the data. Hysteroscopy with dilation and curettage was done and samples were sent for histopathology.

Results Bleeding was present in all the 30 cases. About 33.33% had pain abdomen, 56.67% had hot flushes, 10.00% had mass and 10% had other symptoms in the present study. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of hysteroscopy in diagnosing malignancy was 75%, 96.15%, 75%, 96.15% and 93.33% respectively.

Conclusions To conclude the most common cause of abnormal uterine bleeding in post-menopausal women in our study was polyp. The sensitivity and specificity of the hysteroscopy in diagnosing the malignant lesions is 75% and 96.15% respectively which corroborated with other study findings. Hysteroscopy with dilation and curettage is better alternative to hysterectomy and biopsy in most of the cases.