Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jun 30;10(13):2928.
doi: 10.3390/jcm10132928.

Symptoms and Quality of Life Changes after Hysteroscopic Treatment in Patients with Symptomatic Isthmocele-Preliminary Results

Monika Szafarowska  1 , Magdalena Biela  1 , Joanna Wichowska  1 , Kamil Sobociński  1 , Agnieszka Segiet-Święcicka  2 , Jacek Doniec  3 , Paweł Kamiński  1
Affiliations

Symptoms and Quality of Life Changes after Hysteroscopic Treatment in Patients with Symptomatic Isthmocele-Preliminary Results

Monika Szafarowska et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Due to an increasing number of cesarean section deliveries, the common consequences of that surgery are observed more often in the population. One of them is the uterine cesarean scar defect known as niche or isthmocele. Most patients with that aliment are asymptomatic, but some of them can report abnormal uterine bleeding, pelvic pain, subfertility which can be the reason for reduced quality of life (QoL) of the patients. In our study, we analyzed the subjective feelings of changes in the severity of symptoms and quality of life of women with niche after diagnostic and operative hysteroscopy. The patients n = 85 included in the study group completed a follow up questionnaire six months after the procedure. Patients after operative hysteroscopy in comparison to patients after diagnostic procedure reported statistically significant reduction in post-menstruation bleeding/spotting and improvement in the quality of sexual activity. We have also noticed a higher pregnancy rate in the operative group, however, the difference was not statistically significant. According to our study, most women reported a positive effect of hysteroscopy on their QoL in social, psychological, environmental, and health domains.

Keywords: abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB); hysteroscopy; isthmocele; niche; quality of life (QoL); sexual activity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The scheme of the study. RMT: residual myometrium thickness.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The most common symptoms of the isthmocele reported by patients.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Stegwee S.I., Beij A., de Leeuw R.A., Mokkink L.B., van der Voet L.F., Huirne J.A.F. Niche-related outcomes after caesarean section and quality of life: A focus group study and review of literature. Qual. Life Res. 2020;29:1013–1025. doi: 10.1007/s11136-019-02376-6. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baranowski W., Doniec J., Szafarowska M. Isthmocele—Treat or not to treat? AJBSR Am. J. Biomed. Sci. Res. 2020;7:472–474.
    1. Vitale S.G., Ludwin A., Vilos G.A., Török P., Tesarik J., Vitagliano A., Lasmar R.B., Chiofalo B. From hysteroscopy to laparoendoscopic surgery: What is the best surgical approach for symptomatic isthmocele? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch. Gynecol. Obstet. 2020;301:33–52. doi: 10.1007/s00404-020-05438-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jordans I.P.M., de Leeuw R.A., Stegwee S.I., Amso N.N., Barri-Soldevila P.N., van den Bosch T., Bourne T., Brölmann H.A.M., Donnez O., Dueholm M., et al. Sonographic examination of uterine niche in non-pregnant women: A modified Delphi procedure. Ultrasound Obstet. Gynecol. 2019;53:107–115. doi: 10.1002/uog.19049. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bettocchi S. New Era of Office Hysteroscopy. J. Am. Assoc. Gynecol. Laparosc. 1996;3:S4. doi: 10.1016/S1074-3804(96)80140-X. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources