The performance of Pipelle endometrial sampling in a dedicated postmenopausal bleeding clinic

Endometrial sampling using the Pipelle device is widely used in the UK especially in the investigation of postmenopausal bleeding. This study was aimed at evaluating the clinical benefit and diagnostic accuracy of the procedure in the setting of a dedicated one-stop clinic for women with postmenopausal bleeding. The study also examined the factors that would affect the adequacy of endometrial samples in terms of their suitability for histopathalogical examination. Data from 97 consecutive patients attending the clinic were collected and analysed. All the patients had a transvaginal ultrasound scan and an endometrial Pipelle sample was attempted unless refused by the patient. The analysis revealed that the procedure avoided the need for hysteroscopy in 61.5% of cases with an endometrial thickness of > 4mm. No cases of endometrial cancer were missed after successful Pipelle sampling. The ability to obtain an adequate endometrial sample was primarily affected by the endometrial thickness. There is only a 27% probability of getting an adequate endometrial sample in the group of women with an endometrial thickness of < 5 mm. The study recommends this procedure for the group of women with an endometrial thickness of > 4 mm. However, when the endometrial thickness is < or = 4 mm, little can be gained from endometrial sampling as malignancy is rare and the chance of getting an adequate sample is small.