Hysteroscopic endomyometrial resection.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the efficacy of hysteroscopic endomyometrial resection in treating women with intractable uterine bleeding.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was carried out on 304 women with intractable uterine bleeding treated between August 1, 1991, and December 31, 1997. The average patient was 41.3 +/- 8.0 years old and was followed for a mean of 31.8 +/- 22.1 months (range 6-75 months).

RESULTS

Eighty-three percent of women were amenorrheic at the time of their one-year follow-up. The overall amenorrhea rate was 85.5%. Only 0.8% of subjects reported no improvement during the study period. Histologic analysis of the endomyometrial specimens revealed that 17 (5.6%) women were found to have significant endometrial pathology not previously identified with routine preoperative screening. There was a total of 20 complications (6.6%), although only 2 (0.7%) were considered severe. Twenty-seven women (8.9%) eventually required subsequent surgery during the study period. Finally, 69 (22.7%) women with adenomyosis were identified. They did not appear to be at increased risk for subsequent surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

Hysteroscopic endomyometrial resection produces superior results as measured by amenorrhea rates, the need for subsequent surgery and its low incidence of associated complications; and it produces an important histologic specimen. For patients with significant comorbidity, endomyometrial resection can be adapted to a single-stage procedure incorporating the diagnostic and treatment phases in women with abnormal uterine bleeding.