Office Hysteroscopy in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Trial of Cervical Preparation Strategies

Summary

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of different cervical preparation strategies before office hysteroscopy in postmenopausal women undergoing evaluation for intrauterine pathology. The main questions to answer are: Does cervical preparation improve the success rate of complete office hysteroscopy in postmenopausal women? Which cervical preparation strategy provides better patient tolerance, as assessed by pain intensity during the procedure? Researchers will compare four cervical preparation protocols (14-day vaginal estrogen, 7-day vaginal estrogen, oral misoprostol, and no cervical preparation) to determine their effects on procedural success, pain, procedure duration, and perioperative complications. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the four cervical preparation protocols. They will undergo office hysteroscopy using a vaginoscopic ("no touch") approach without anesthesia. Then, they will have pain assessed using a visual analog scale (VAS) during the procedure. Finally, these informations will be collected: procedural success, procedure duration, bleeding, and perioperative complications.

Timeline

Start

2026-01-02

Primary completion

2026-07-30

Completion

2026-08-20

Publications

• Background Samy A, Nabil H, Abdelhakim AM, Mahy ME, Abdel-Latif AA, Metwally AA. Pain management during diagnostic office hysteroscopy in postmenopausal women: a randomized study. Climacteric. 2020 Aug;23(4):397-403. doi: 10.1080/13697137.2020.1742685. Epub 2020 Apr 17.
• Background Sauvan M, Pourcelot AG, Fournet S, Fernandez H, Capmas P. Office hysteroscopy for postmenopausal women: Feasibility and correlation with transvaginal ultrasound. J Gynecol Obstet Hum Reprod. 2018 Dec;47(10):505-510. doi: 10.1016/j.jogoh.2018.08.018. Epub 2018 Sep 5.
• Background Wood MA, Kerrigan KL, Burns MK, Glenn TL, Ludwin A, Christianson MS, Bhagavath B, Lindheim SR. Overcoming the Challenging Cervix: Identification and Techniques to Access the Uterine Cavity. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2018 Nov;73(11):641-649. doi: 10.1097/OGX.0000000000000614.
• Background Sorbi F, Fambrini M, Saso S, Lucenteforte E, Lisi F, Piciocchi L, Cioni R, Petraglia F. Office hysteroscopy in pre- and post-menopausal women: a predictive model. Gynecol Endocrinol. 2021 Mar;37(3):206-210. doi: 10.1080/09513590.2020.1864316. Epub 2020 Dec 26.
• Background Giorda G, Scarabelli C, Franceschi S, Campagnutta E. Feasibility and pain control in outpatient hysteroscopy in postmenopausal women: a randomized trial. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2000 Jul;79(7):593-7.
• Background Gorodeski GI. Effects of menopause and estrogen on cervical epithelial permeability. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2000 Jul;85(7):2584-95. doi: 10.1210/jcem.85.7.6671.
• Background Cooper NA, Smith P, Khan KS, Clark TJ. Does cervical preparation before outpatient hysteroscopy reduce women's pain experience? A systematic review. BJOG. 2011 Oct;118(11):1292-301. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2011.03046.x. Epub 2011 Jul 29.

Drugs

Indications