ENDOMETRIAL POLYP

Endometrial Polyp

Uterine or Endometrial polyps are fleshy growths arising from within the uterine cavity and are usually benign (non -cancerous) although some can be cancerous or can eventually turn into cancer (precancerous polyps).

They can range in size from a few millimetres and can be asymptomatic being detected only on an ultrasound or cause symptoms such as

• Irregular menstrual bleeding 
• Bleeding between menstrual periods
• Excessively heavy menstrual periods
• post-menopausal bleeding 
• Infertility
• bleeding after intercourse especially with cervical polyps

No cause may be found for why some people develop these polyps, but they are estrogen- sensitive, meaning they grow in response to estrogen.

Diagnosis can usually be done using the following modalities:

• Transvaginal ultrasound
• saline hysterosonography 
• Hysteroscopy.

It is best to remove the polyps especially if you are having any symptoms but also sometimes to rules out that they are not pre-cancerous or cancerous.

Treatment:

• wait and watch -small polyps may resolve themselves 
• Surgical removal. During hysteroscopy, instruments are inserted through the hysteroscope and the polyp is removed and sent for examination to a lab for microscopic examination.