Anatomic Impediments to the Performance of Hysteroscopy

Infertility and menorrhagia in menopausal women are the most frequent indications for hysteroscopy. Often, however, the procedure turns out to be difficult or impossible due to stenosis and reduction in the size of the cervical canal. With the availability of more and more atraumatic endoscopic instrumentations and improvements in the technique, hysteroscopy can be performed in all women, whatever the obstacle. In our 5-year experience of 1500 hysteroscopies, we often found anatomic conditions that, besides being obstacles to performing the examination, increased patient discomfort. With the office hysteroscope with a 5F operative sheath one can rapidly overcome the obstacles and complete the examination without discomfort to the patient.