Outpatient diagnostic hysteroscopy: analysis of 429 cases.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of outpatient hysteroscopy.

METHODS: Outpatient CO2 hysteroscopy using video-camera for monitoring was performed on 429 patients from November 1995 to December 1996. The indications included post-menopausal bleeding (32.2%), menorrhagia (25.4%), irregular bleeding (24.7%), intermenstrual spotting (10.2%) and others (7.5%).

RESULTS: Hysteroscopy was successfully performed on 420 (97.9%) patients. Although no anaesthetics were used, only two (0.47%) patients complained of severe pain during the procedure. Twenty-one (4.9%) patients had poor view due to submucosal fibroid or bloody view. There were no operative complications. Normal uterine cavity was found in 36.8% and atrophic endometrium in 34.7% of patients. The pathologies included submucosal fibroid (10.7%), endometrial polyp (5.8%) and fibroid polyp (2.8%). Five (1.2%) out of 429 patients were confirmed histologically to have endometrial carcinoma. No malignant lesions were missed. A total of 372 (86.7%) patients had histological confirmation of hysteroscopic findings. In 57 (13.2%) patients, the histological results did not correlate with the hysteroscopic findings.

CONCLUSIONS: Outpatient hysteroscopy and suction curettage is a safe, cost-effective and acceptable procedure.