Prepubertal Vaginal Bleeding: An Inpatient Series from a Single Center in Fujian China.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: This study characterizes the etiology, clinical features and outcomes of prepubescent vaginal bleeding and summarizes our experience.

DESIGN: The data of patients who were hospitalized with vaginal discharge or bleeding treated from January 2012 to December 2018 were retrospectively reviewed.

SETTING: A provincial Grade III Level A Maternity and Children's Hospital.

PARTICIPANTS: Prepubertal patients with vaginal discharge or bleeding.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patient age, bleeding duration, etiology, treatment and prognosis were recorded. Physical examinations and color Doppler ultrasonography were also performed.

RESULTS: There were 158 patients aged from 1 month to 10 years (mean age 5.2 years). Bleeding duration ranged from 1 to 98 days, with an average of 13.3 days. Sixty patients were diagnosed with vaginal foreign bodies, 34 with vulvovaginitis, 34 with vulvar trauma, 13 with ovarian granulosa cell tumors, 8 with urethral mucosa prolapse, 5 with vaginal yolk sac tumors and 1 each with pituitary tumor, hypothyroidism, McCune-Albright syndrome, and short-term intake of a large number of strawberries. All the children were treated according to their different disease etiologies.

CONCLUSION: Prepubertal vaginal bleeding is caused by a variety of different conditions. In our study, the most common causes were vaginal foreign bodies, vulvovaginitis, trauma, vaginal malignant tumors and urethral mucosa prolapse. Careful medical histories and targeted examinations are needed. Vaginoscopy could be considered. Considering the different causes, different treatments should be administered to achieve a good prognosis.