ROLE OF TRANSVAGINAL SONOGRAPHY IN ASSESSMENT OF ABNORMAL UTERINE BLEEDING IN PERIMENOPAUSAL AGE GROUP

Authors

  • Riffat Najeeb
  • Azra Saeed Awan
  • Umber Bakhtiar
  • Sadia Akhter

Abstract

Background: Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is a common problem which prompts morethan 20% of all visits to outpatient clinics, and may account for more than 25% of allhysterectomies. The objective of this study was to determine the role of transvaginalultrasonography in women of perimenopausal age group presenting with abnormal uterinebleeding. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in Department of Obstructs andGynaecology, Railway General Hospital, Rawalpindi. One hundred and forty-one women whoattended the gynaecology clinic with abnormal uterine bleeding (menorrhagia, intermenstrualbleeding, or postcoital bleeding) between 40–47 years of age from January 2006 and April 2007were included in this study. The mean age was 44 years. Results: Among 141 womenendometrial lesions were detected in 77 cases on histopathology after Dialatation and Curettage(D&C), while 57 (40.42%) of these were confirmed on transvaginal ultrasongraphy as anendometrial pathology prior to this invasive procedure. Among the 64 remaining patients,showing normal proliferative endometrium on histopathology, 46 cases (71.87%) showed noabnormality on tranvaginal examination. Conclusion: Transvaginal sonography can be safelyused as an initial investigation in the management of abnormal uterine bleeding as it is a noninvasive procedure for the detection of endometrial pathology. The incidence of detection of anabnormal pathology by ultrasongraphy is high when focal lesions as fibroids, polyps or foreignbody is concerned. Dilatation and curettage being a blind procedure requires hospitalization andgeneral anaesthesia which can be safely replaced by an alternate valid, safe and non-invasivetechnique for evaluating the endometrial pathology in women of perimenopausal age group withabnormal uterine bleeding.Keywords: Abnormal Uterine Bleeding (AUB), Transvaginal Sonography (TVS), Dilatation andCurettage (D&C), Perimenopasual

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Published

2010-03-01

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 1 (2010): JOURNAL OF AYUB MEDICAL COLLEGE, ABBOTTABAD

Section

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

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