WHAT IS A DILATION AND CURETTAGE?

 Abnormal bleeding is one of the chief complaints that bring women into the gynecologist’s office. Until recently, if these women were past thirty-five, most of them were headed to the operating room. Every day in this country hundreds of women undergo Dilation and Curettage (D&C) for diagnosis, when they could have a simple, painless procedure in their doctors’ offices instead.

 

Dr Steven R. Goldstein, an obgyn in Manhattan, uses this simple, painless procedure to diagnose patients who come in with abnormal bleeding. This state-of-the-art technique, Sonohysterography, is used by Dr Goldstein to eliminate the need for diagnostic surgery in potentially 75 percent of the cases of abnormal bleeding. Armed with this knowledge, any woman can avoid an unnecessary trip to the Operating Room.

 

Let’s call this patient Cindy. This forty-six-year-old woman is a good example. She was told by her doctor that she needed Dilation and Curettage (D&C) to find out the cause of her abnormal bleeding. She said “when my period came, there was no question something was wrong. I was through a pad every hour. I ruined two pairs of pants”.

 

But did she need surgery to find out the cause? She goes on to say “my mother had two D&C’s so I thought it was no big deal. Then the nurse came in and started grilling me about insurance. All of a sudden it hit me that a D&C is surgery. It means anesthesia. A trip to the operating room. A hospital stay. Days off from work. Someone to watch my kids. Insurance nightmares. I was sorry I even mentioned the bleeding. It didn’t seem that bad all of a sudden. We had enough financial problems. Did I really need all of this?”

 

What exactly is a D&C? It stands for Dilation and Curettage, a procedure in which doctors dilate the cervix and then scrape the endometrial linin of the uterus. The procedure has been around since 1843. It’s done both for diagnosis – to find out why a woman is bleeding abnormally – and therapeutically, and to remove certain growths in the uterus.

 

Dr Goldstein, a leading Manhattan Obgyn says it is the most common surgical procedure women undergo in America. They are told it is a routine procedure. But it is still surgery, requiring anesthesia and the risks that go with it. Worse, 75 percent of these invasive and costly operations are unnecessary. They turn up nothing.

 

For instance, a large percentage of perimenopausal patients with abnormal bleeding have no anatomic abnormalities. They simply had a hormonal imbalance (lack of ovulation, or “dysfunctional uterine bleeding”, in medical jargon)

 

If you are experiencing abnormal bleeding and have been told you need a Dilation and Curettage (D&C), then an appointment with Dr Goldstein, an obgyn in Manhattan, may be in order. Using painless Sonohysterography, Dr Goldstein is able to diagnose the cause of your abnormal bleeding.