MENSTRUAL BLOOD-LOSS MEASUREMENT WITH GYNAESEAL

The diagnosis of menorrhagia is usually based on the subjective compla int of heavy menstrual bleeding, although up to 50% of women describin g menorrhagia have measured menstrual loss within normal limits. Treat ment is usually started without first establishing an objective diagno sis, because menstrual blood loss measurement is not widely available to clinicians. Current laboratory methods of measuring menstrual loss involve extraction of menses from sanitary wear. Many women find colle ction of sanitary wear unacceptable and laboratory staff find the mens trual extraction procedure unpleasant and time-consuming. We investiga ted the use of Gynaeseal, a vaginally placed latex menstrual seal, in women with normal menstrual loss (n = 10) and menorrhagia (n = 12) wit h regard to its suitability for the measurement of menstrual loss and efficacy as alternative sanitary protection. Twenty-one of the 22 wome n found the device easy to insert, but 16 found it messy to remove. Al l of the 6 couples having coitus found the device caused no discomfort . All women with menorrhagia and 4 of 12 women with normal menstrual l osses were dissatisfied with the menstrual seal provided by gynaeseal. Gynaeseal does not contain menstrual blood efficiently in women with menorrhagia and is therefore unsuitable for the measurement of menstru al blood loss.