POST MENOPAUSAL BLEEDING

Objective: To find out the causes of postmenopausal bleeding and their correlation with medicalillness. DESIGN: Single centre, cross sectional study. Place and duration: The department of obstetrics andgynaecology, Shaikh Zayed Postgraduate Medical Institute and hospital, Lahore from 1 August 2000 to 30 June 2002.st thSubjects and methods: All the patients with post menopausal bleeding diagnosed during the study periods wereincluded, except patients after hysterectomy and premature menopause. Relative informations were filled in a Performaand informations were taken from case records. Results: Total 50 patients were included in the study. Maximumnumber of patients with postmenopausal bleeding were between 56-60 years (32%). Most of the patients were havingparity between 4-6 (48%). Majority of patients (32%) had symptom about 10 years after menopause. Hypertension,diabetes and obesity were commonly found medical illness in these patients, especially when cause is endometrialcarcinoma, ultrasound scan, Pap smear and endometrial biopsy are essential to rule out cause of post menopausalbleeding. 70% patients were having benign cause while 30% patients had malignant cause for post menopausalbleeding. Conclusion: Carcinoma of genital tract is one of the most important cause of postmenopausal bleeding, soearly detection of the cases can be life saving. Detailed medical evaluation, aid of ultrasonography, Pap smear andendometrial biopsy is required to find the cause of postmenopausal bleeding.