Pelvic ultrasound in the postabortion and postpartum patient

Ultrasound is generally the first imaging method employed when complications are suspected in the pelvis during the postpartum or postabortion period. Much of focus in this regard is in patients with abnormal vaginal bleeding, where one generally wants to know if there are retained products of conception. While ultrasound plays a major role in assessing these problems, there is a lack of consensus on the best sonographic features to use. We will review the ultrasound features that may be useful to identify retained products of conception and will also focus on the overlap of normal and abnormal findings in such patients. Further, we will discuss other issues in the postpartum patient, such as complications unique to the post cesarean-section patient, unusual causes of vaginal bleeding, uterine rupture, uterine arteriovenous malformations, and ovarian vein thrombosis.