The Facts

Abnormal Uterine Bleeding is the single, most common reason why women in the western world consult a Gynaecologist.

• Among women aged 30-49, 1 in 20 consults her GP each year, with heavy menstrual bleeding accounting for 12% of all gynaecology referrals within the UK.
• 30% of your patients are likely to consider their bleeding to be excessive. However, only half of women complaining of heavy menstrual bleeding fit the clinical criteria of more than 80mls of blood loss per cycle.
• Each year around £7 million is spent in the UK on prescriptions in primary care to treat Menorrhagia.

What is Abnormal Uterine Bleeding?

Due to the large number of types of Abnormal Uterine Bleeding (AUB) the causes can vary greatly. Two of the most common causes of AUB are fibroids and polyps. Other common causes include endometrial cancer, endometriosis, pelvic inflammation and a cervical tumour.

Types of Abnormal Uterine Bleeding

The most common types of AUB are as follows:

• Menorrhagia - when menstrual cycles and menstruation occur on a normal schedule yet the blood flow is excessive.
• Metrorrhagia - when menstruation occurs at irregular intervals.
• Menometrorrhagia - irregular and frequent menstruation with excessive blood flow.
• Post-Coital Bleeding - vaginal bleeding that occurs after sexual intercourse.
• Polymenorrhea occurs when the menstrual cycle is less than 21 days long but bleeding will occur at regular intervals.
• Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding (DUB) - a hormone imbalance and is only diagnosed after all other apparent causes have been ruled out.
• Oligomenorrhea - when the menstrual cycle occurs more than 35 days apart.
• Amenorrhea - the absence of menstruation.
• Intermenstrual Uterine Bleeding - when spotting or bleeding occurs between normal menstrual periods.

Diagnosis

There are several ways to find out the cause of the AUB including an endometrial biopsy, hysteroscopy and an ultrasound. It is likely that an endometrial biopsy will be performed after a hysteroscopy and an ultrasound have been carried out as the biopsy is used to test for any abnormalities that may have been discovered during the hysteroscopy.

Treatment Options

Today there are many minimally invasive treatment options that can be performed within an ambulatory setting as an outpatient procedure. ETHICON™ Women's Health & Urology UK offers a range of diagnostic and therapeutic solutions for treating AUB, which are listed on the right hand side at the top of this page.

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References