Evidence reviews for management of heavy menstrual bleeding: Heavy menstrual bleeding (update)

Excerpt

There are a number of treatments available to alleviate HMB and improve the health-related quality of life of women with this condition. Treatments can broadly be classified into medical, surgical and radiological options. The variety of therapeutic interventions allows management to be individualised taking into account a woman’s preference. This is important because HMB impacts upon women of all reproductive ages and underlying health conditions. Furthermore, other cyclical symptoms such as pain and pre-menstrual syndrome may co-exist. The health professional’s role is to allow women to make an informed choice by presenting the range of management options and their particular benefits and harms. Women should be made aware of the safety and effectiveness of therapeutic interventions and their mode of action. The potential side-effects and morbidity from treatment should be discussed. Furthermore, the impact of treatment on current and future fertility should be made explicit. If surgery is considered a woman’s preference regarding the retention of her uterus should be taken into account as should the estimated time to return to normal activities.