Evaluation of 24 patients with IUD-related problems: hysteroscopic findings.

The clinical and diagnostic findings in 24 patients with IUD-related abnormal uterine bleeding or missing IUDs have been evaluated with special reference to hysteroscopy. For the IUD-related abnormal uterine bleeding no gross uterine or tissue pathology has been revealed except for chronic inflammatory reaction of the endometrium. In half of the cases the IUD showed embedment, displacement within the uterine cavity or migration into the uterine wall, which may be a possible cause of the IUD-related abnormal uterine bleeding. For the detection and removal of IUDs with missing strings, partially embedded and perforated IUDs or retained broken parts of it, the hysteroscopic procedure appeared to be invaluable and in our opinion should be the method of choice.