How well do perimenopausal patients accept outpatient hysteroscopy? Visual analogue scoring of acceptability and pain in 100 women.

There is growing interest in performing hysteroscopic examination of the uterine cavity as an outpatient procedure. Its sensitivity and specificity in detecting uterine abnormalities are well recognised. This study assessed how outpatient hysteroscopy was tolerated and accepted by 100 women attending a hospital-based menopause clinic. Patients were asked to complete a questionnaire following an outpatient hysteroscopy. Using visual analogue scoring (0 = no pain/completely acceptable, 10 = worst pain imaginable/completely unacceptable), the mean maximum pain experienced during the procedure was 3.25 (S.D. 2.08) and the degree of acceptability was 3.02 (S.D. 1.96). Three percent (N = 3) of patients stated they would prefer a repeat hysteroscopy to be performed under general anaesthetic and 3% (N = 3) of patients stated they would prefer an inpatient stay following a repeat hysteroscopy. These findings demonstrate that outpatient hysteroscopy is well tolerated by perimenopause patients. The advantages of outpatient hysteroscopy to the perimenopausal woman are discussed.