Heavy menstrual bleeding


Heavy menstrual bleeding, previously known as menorrhagia, is a menstrual period with excessively heavy flow. It is a type of abnormal uterine bleeding.
Abnormal uterine bleeding can be caused by structural abnormalities in the reproductive tract, anovulation, bleeding disorders, hormone issues or cancer of the reproductive tract. Initial evaluation aims at figuring out pregnancy status, menopausal status, and the source of bleeding. One definition is bleeding lasting more than 7 days or the loss of more than 80 mL of blood heavy flow.
Treatment depends on the cause, severity, and interference with quality of life. Initial treatment often involve birth control pills. Tranexamic acid, danazol, progesterone IUDs, and NSAIDs are also helpful. Surgery can be an effective for those whose symptoms are not well-controlled with other treatments. Approximately 53 in 1000 women are affected by AUB.

Signs and symptoms

A normal menstrual cycle is 21–35 days in duration, with bleeding lasting an average of 5 days and total blood flow between 25 and 80 mL. Heavy menstrual bleeding is defined as total menstrual flow >80ml per cycle, soaking a pad/tampon at least every 2 hours, or bleeding lasting for >7 days. Deviations in terms of frequency of menses, duration of menses, or volume of menses qualifies as abnormal uterine bleeding. Bleeding in between menses is also abnormal uterine bleeding and thus requires further evaluation.
Complications of heavy menstrual bleeding could also be the initial symptoms. Excessive bleeding can lead to anemia which presents as fatigue, shortness of breath, and weakness. Anemia can be diagnosed with a blood test.

Causes

Usually no causative abnormality can be identified and treatment is directed at the symptom, rather than a specific mechanism. However, there are known causes of abnormal uterine bleeding that need to be ruled out. Most common causes based on the nature of bleeding is listed below followed by the rare causes of bleeding.

Consideration

HMB is associated with increased omega-6 AA in uterine tissues. The endometrium of women with HMB have higher levels of prostaglandin when compared with women with normal menses. It is thought that prostaglandins are a by product of omega 6 build up.

Diagnosis

The NICE guidelines states that: "Many women presenting to primary care with symptoms of HMB can be offered treatment without the need for further examination or investigation. However, investigation via a diagnostic technique might be warranted for women for whom history or examination suggests a structural or endometrial pathology or for whom the initial treatment has failed."
Diagnosis is largely achieved by obtaining a complete medical history followed by physical exam and vaginal ultrasonography. If need be, laboratory tests or hysteroscopy may be used. The following are a list of diagnostic procedures that medical professionals may use to identify the cause of the abnormal uterine bleeding.
Where an underlying cause can be identified, treatment may be directed at this. Clearly heavy periods at menarche and menopause may settle spontaneously.
If the degree of bleeding is mild, all that may be sought by the woman is the reassurance that there is no sinister underlying cause. If anemia occurs due to bleeding then iron tablets may be used to help restore normal hemoglobin levels.
The first line treatment option for women with HMB and no identified pathology, fibroids less than 3 cm in diameter, suspected or confirmed adenomyosis is the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system.
Usually, oral combined contraceptive or progesterone only pills may be taken for a few months, but for longer-term treatment the alternatives of injected Depo Provera or the more recent progesterone releasing IntraUterine System may be used. In particular, an oral contraceptive containing estradiol valerate and dienogest may be more effective than tranexamic acid, NSAIDs and IUDs. Fibroids may respond to hormonal treatment, and if they do not, then surgical removal may be required.
Concerning hormonal treatment, the NICE guidelines states that: "No evidence was found on MRI-guided transcutaneous focused ultrasound for uterine fibroids nor for the progestogen-only pill, injectable progestogens, or progestogen implants."
NICE guidelines says that for women who do not wish to have pharmacological treatment and who do not want to conserve their fertility, surgical options could be considered as a first-line treatment option. And options are hysterectomy and second generation endometrial ablation. With hysterectomy more effective than second generation endometrial ablation.
Tranexamic acid tablets that may also reduce loss by up to 50%. This may be combined with hormonal medication previously mentioned.
Anti-inflammatory medication like NSAIDs may also be used. NSAIDs are the first-line medications in ovulatory heavy menstrual bleeding, resulting in an average reduction of 20-46% in menstrual blood flow. NSAIDs may be more effective than placebo in terms of reducing blood loss increasing women's subjective perception of improvement, they may be less effective than tranexamic acid. It is uncertain if there is any difference between NSAIDs and tranexamic acid in terms of women's subjective perception of bleeding. For this purpose, NSAIDs are ingested for only 5 days of the menstrual cycle, limiting their most common adverse effect of dyspepsia.
A definitive treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding is to perform hysterectomy. The risks of the procedure have been reduced with measures to reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis after surgery, and the switch from the front abdominal to vaginal approach greatly minimizing the discomfort and recuperation time for the patient; however extensive fibroids may make the womb too large for removal by the vaginal approach. Small fibroids may be dealt with by local removal. A further surgical technique is endometrial ablation by the use of applied heat.

Medications

These have been ranked by the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence:
In the UK the use of hysterectomy for heavy menstrual bleeding has been almost halved between 1989 and 2003. This has a number of causes: better medical management, endometrial ablation and particularly the introduction of IUS which may be inserted in the community and avoid the need for specialist referral; in one study up to 64% of women cancelled surgery.

Complications

Aside from the social distress of dealing with a prolonged and heavy period, over time the blood loss may prove to be greater than the body iron reserves or the rate of blood replenishment, leading to anemia. Symptoms attributable to the anemia may include shortness of breath, tiredness, weakness, tingling and numbness in fingers and toes, headaches, depression, becoming cold more easily, and poor concentration.