Gynaecology Flashcards
Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB)
An overarching term for disturbed menstrual bleeding, which includes bleeding that is abnormally heavy or abnormal in timing
Primary amenorrhoea
Failure to menstruate by 15-16 years of age in someone with secondary sexual characteristics
Delayed puberty
Failure to menstruate by 13-14 years of age in someone without secondary sexual characteristics
Secondary amenorrhoea
Absence of periods for a 6-month period in a woman who has previously had menstrual periods
Intermenstrual bleeding
Bleeding episodes between normally timed menstrual periods that are either random or follow a cyclical pattern
Irregular menstrual bleeding
A range of varying lengths of bleeding-free intervals >17 days within one 90-day reference period
Prolonged menstrual bleeding
Prolonged menstrual bleeding for greater than or equal to 10 days in one episode
Acute AUB
An episode of heavy bleeding that, in the clinician’s opinion, is sufficiently heavy to
require immediate treatment to prevent further blood loss
Chronic AUB
Bleeding from the uterine corpus that is abnormal in volume, duration, and/or frequency and has been present for most of the past 6 months
Heavy menstrual bleeding
Excessive menstrual blood loss that interferes with a woman’s physical, emotional, social, and material quality of life, occurring alone or with other symptoms.
Note that this definition includes menstrual bleeding deemed excessive by the patient regardless of its regularity, frequency, or duration
Infrequent menstrual bleeding
One or two episodes in a 90-day period
Dysmenorrhoea
Pelvic pain during menstruation
Dyspareunia
Painful sexual intercourse. Can be characterised as deep dyspareunia with pain with intercourse deep in the vagina or pelvis or superficial dyspareunia with pain with intercourse at the introitus, vulva or lower vagina
Cervical excitation
Pain felt by the woman when her cervix is moved during vaginal examination, typically from free blood in the peritoneal cavity
Cervical ectropion
The endocervical columnar epithelium protrudes through the external os of the cervix and onto the vaginal portion of the cervix
Infertility
The failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse
Endometriosis
The occurrence of endometrial tissue outside the uterus, most commonly on the pelvic peritoneal surfaces
Adenomyosis
The occurrence of endometrial tissue within the myometrium
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
Infection of the uterus, fallopian tubes or pelvis
Menopause
The term natural menopause is defined as the permanent cessation of menstruation resulting from the loss of ovarian follicular activity where the last period was 12 months prior
Premature menopause
Menopause occurring before 40 years of age
Induced menopause
The term induced menopause is defined as the cessation of menstruation which follows either surgical removal of both ovaries (with or without hysterectomy) or iatrogenic ablation of ovarian function (eg by chemotherapy or radiation
Climacteric/perimenopause
The period of time when ovarian function declines and menopausal symptoms appear
Post menopause
The time after menopause
