Surgical treatment and follow-up of women with intermenstrual bleeding due to cesarean section scar defect.

STUDY OBJECTIVE

Previous cesarean delivery scar (PCDS) defect has been described as a cause of intermenstrual bleeding in women with no other uterine pathology except for a pouch on the anterior uterine segment at the site of the cesarean scar. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of hysteroscopic surgery to correct this anatomic defect and eliminate the bleeding disturbance in a group of women with this symptom.

DESIGN

Retrospective study (Canadian Task Force classification XX).

SETTING

Private hospital, department of obstetrics and gynecology.

PATIENTS

Twenty-four women, age 29-41 years, who reported intermenstrual bleeding, especially postmenstrual spotting, with no other gynecologic pathology except for the presence of a PCDS defect. Diagnosis was established with transvaginal ultrasound, when a fluid-filled, triangular defect was seen in the anterior uterine isthmus, in relation to the cesarean section scar.

INTERVENTION

Hysteroscopic resection of fibrotic tissue that overhangs underneath the triangular pouch, facilitating blood drainage through the cervix and fulguration of endometrial glands and/or dilated blood vessels.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

The mean number of previous cesarean-section deliveries was 2.75. Postoperative follow-up was 24 months in 21 patients and at least 14 months in the other 3 patients. Eleven of these patients with the desire to become pregnant were unable to conceive after trying for a period of at least 2 years before hysteroscopy. Infertility work-up in the 11 patients revealed 9 with unknown infertility, 1 with male infertility, and 1 with failed tubal reversal surgery. Nine of them became pregnant between 14- and 24-months of follow-up. Eighty-four percent of patients (20/24) remained asymptomatic (without bleeding disturbances) after surgery.

CONCLUSION

Previous cesarean delivery scar defect may be the cause of intermenstrual bleeding, and it is possible that it also may impair fertility, but it can be successfully treated by hysteroscopic surgery.