Hysteroscopy in postmenopause: from diagnosis to the management of intrauterine pathologies

Abstract

With the increase in life expectancy, women now live up to one-third of their life in menopause. Postmenopausal bleeding (PMB) is a common gynecologic complaint encountered by the clinician. Endometrial cancer is present in about 10% of patients with PMB. Nevertheless, many other conditions such as endometrial or cervical polyps, genital atrophy, or non-gynecologic conditions may also be present. Hysteroscopy has replaced blind diagnostic procedures and is now considered the gold-standard technique for the diagnosis and management of intrauterine pathology. Gynecologists in clinical practice should be familiar with the use of hysteroscopy in the diagnosis and treatment of the menopausal patient presenting with gynecologic complaints. The aim of this article is to report the current evidence on the role of hysteroscopy in the evaluation and management of the postmenopausal patient with intrauterine pathology.

摘要

随着预期寿命的增加, 女性绝经后的寿命已延长到三分之一。绝经后出血（PMB）是临床医生常见的妇科疾病。约10％的PMB患者患有子宫内膜癌。尽管如此, 也可能存在许多其他疾病, 例如子宫内膜或宫颈息肉, 生殖器萎缩或非妇科疾病。宫腔镜已经取代了不可视的诊断程序, 现在被认为是诊断和管理宫腔内病变的金标准技术。在临床实践中, 妇科医生应熟悉宫腔镜在有妇科不适的绝经患者诊断和治疗中的使用。本文的目的是报告宫腔镜在绝经后宫腔内病变患者评估和治疗中作用的最新证据。

Keywords:

• Menopause
• postmenopausal bleeding
• hysteroscopy

Potential conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Source of funding

Nil.