After C-Section, Birth Control Pills Stop Bleeding
August 29, 2006
After delivering a baby by Cesarean section (or “C-section”), some women have vaginal bleeding in addition to her usual menstrual periods. However, new research indicates that taking combined hormonal therapy – estrogen and progesterone (Pranoval) – can reduce such bleeding.
Investigators in Japan reported their findings in the August issue of the Fertility and Sterility journal, and Reuters Health summarized the findings in an article published on August 23.
Areas around scars in the uterus have been reported as a possible source of vaginal bleeding outside of normal periods after C-section, according to the study’s authors. Currently, no simple treatment is known for this bleeding.
Clinical Trial
Investigators Masahiro Tahara, MD, of Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, and colleagues examined the effectiveness of estrogen and progesterone tablets containing 0.5 mg of norgestrel and 0.05 mg of ethinyl estradiol in 11 women who were experiencing recurring vaginal bleeding after a C-section.
After three treatment cycles with the combined drug, ten study participants experienced decreased bleeding, then cessation of bleeding. The eleventh participant experienced cessation of abnormal vaginal bleeding after three more treatment cycles.
Although Dr Tahara and colleagues are uncertain about how the combined hormone therapy exerts its beneficial effects in this study population, they propose that possible mechanisms include coagulation effects and improved integrity in blood-vessel linings.
"Our findings support the use of conservative hormonal therapy for treating intermenstrual bleeding in patients with defects at the previous cesarean uterine scar," the authors conclude, according to Reuters Health.
"However, it must be noted that this study is preliminary, and more work is needed to show the effectiveness in a large population of women with prior cesarean deliveries."
Sources:
Oral contraceptives curb bleeding after C-section, Reuters
Health, August 23, 2006.
Preliminary report of treatment with oral contraceptive pills for
intermenstrual vaginal bleeding secondary to a cesarean section
scar. Masahiro Tahara, et al. Fertility and Sterility,
volume 86, issue 2, pages 477-479, August 2006. Published online
June 12, 2006.
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