Nearly half of women with benign uterine bleeding underwent surgery

Researchers reviewed electronic health records from three Sørlandet Hospital sites for women aged 55 years or younger who had contact for benign heavy or frequent bleeding between 2011 and 2021. The retrospective study included 4,947 women with relevant ICD-10 codes; analyses of surgical treatment covered the 2,278 who underwent at least one procedure. The authors used descriptive statistics to assess procedure types and factors associated with hysterectomy.

Among the women who had surgery, 1,830 (80%) underwent one procedure, 415 (18%) had two, and 33 (1%) had three. Thermal endometrial destruction was the most common first procedure, performed in 902 women (40%). Overall, 649 (28%) of the operated women underwent hysterectomy. Fibroids, pain and anemia were more common among women who had a hysterectomy; age was not associated with the procedure.

The findings describe surgical care at one Norwegian hospital trust and do not establish why individual treatment choices were made or compare outcomes between procedures. The authors suggest that overall symptom burden, as well as bleeding volume, may be relevant to hysterectomy decisions. The retrospective, record-based design and single-region setting limit how broadly the results can be applied.