ENDOMETRIAL PIPELLE BIOPSY COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL DILATATION AND CURETTAGE

Dilatation and curettage (D+C) is the most common operation performed in Britain, The liberal use of D+C has been criticised, The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of outpatient endometrial pipell e biopsy and determine its safety in terms of detecting abnormalities, Complications and financial costs were also evaluated, Data were revi ewed from an active gynaecological unit from February 1993 to January 1995. A total of 303 D+Cs and 104 endometrial pipelle biopsies were pe rformed ih this period, Nine malignancies were detected by D+C and 1 b y pipelle biopsy, A total of 24 and 3 benign abnormalities were detect ed by each method respectively, There was a higher complication rate i n the D+C group but the failure rate was higher in the endometrial pip elle biopsy group, The monetary savings over this period is estimated at pound 20,307. There were no missed malignancies to our knowledge ov er the 8 yr period since endometrial pipelle biopsy was introduced to the hospital.