UTERINE BLEEDING ABNORMALITIES

Abstract

Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is a broad term that describes menstrual irregularities involving the frequency, regularity, duration, and volume of discharge outside of pregnancy. Up to one-third of women experience abnormal uterine bleeding during their lifetime, with disorders most commonly occurring during menstruation and perimenopause. A normal menstrual cycle has a frequency of 24 to 38 days and lasts 2 to 7 days with blood loss of 5 to 80 millilitres. Changes in any of these 4 parameters constitute abnormal uterine bleeding. Old terms such as oligomenorrhoea, menorrhagia and dysfunctional uterine bleeding should be abandoned to use simple terms to describe the nature of abnormal uterine bleeding. Changes to the terminology were first published in 2007, followed by International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (FIGO) updates in 2011 and 2018. The FIGO systems first define abnormal uterine bleeding and then provide an abbreviation for common etiologies. These descriptions apply to chronic non-gestational AMI. In 2018, the committee added intermenstrual bleeding and defined irregular bleeding as outside the 75th percentile. [l]