Outpatient Management of Heavy Menstrual Bleeding in Adolescent and Young Women with Inherited Platelet Function Disorders

Gynaecological management of women with inherited bleeding disorders

Women with inherited bleeding disorders (IBDs) may present to healthcare professionals in a variety of ways and commonly will be encountered by either haematology or gynaecology services. Heavy menstrual bleeding is very often the first manifestation of an IBD. There is a wide variation in severity of bleeding for women with IBD and diagnosis and subsequent management of their condition requires multidisciplinary specialised care which is tailored to the individual and includes excellent cross-specialty communication between gynaecology and haematology teams. This guideline is intended for both haematologists and gynaecologists who are involved in the diagnosis and management of women with bleeding disorders. It sets out recommendations about how to investigate heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), the commonest presentation for women with IBD to hospital services, to guide physicians about how to diagnose an IBD and covers the management of women with known IBD and HMB. The second section sets out recommendations for patients known to have IBD and covers management of patients with IBD in the setting of gynaecological surgery and management for all other non-surgical gynaecological situations.

Complex family planning and pediatric hematology oncology integrated clinic for young people with blood disorders and heavy or abnormal menstrual bleeding

OBJECTIVES

To describe practice patterns of an integrated complex family planning-pediatric hematology oncology clinic for patients with blood disorders STUDY DESIGN: : We retrospectively evaluated the outcomes of patients who had an initial consultation for blood disorders impacting menstrual bleeding in an integrated complex family planning-pediatric hematology oncology clinic from October 2015 to September 2020. We reviewed all charts to extract medical and gynecologic history, blood disorder diagnosis, hormonal treatment prior to and following initial consultation, subsequent visits to the integrated clinic, and hormonal treatment up to 24 months after initial consultation.

RESULTS

We saw 47 patients; their most common blood disorder diagnosis was protein defect (14/47, 30%). Most patients (30/47, 64%) were not using any hormonal treatment prior to their initial consultation. After the initial consultation, 26 (55%) elected to start, change, or discontinue hormonal treatment for abnormal menstrual bleeding, the most common treatment being combined hormonal contraception (CHC, 22/47, 47%), alone or as dual therapy. Over the study duration, 36 patients (77%) initiated, changed, or discontinued their hormone treatment, 22 (61%) of whom changed their treatment plan more than once. CHC usage decreased from 19/47 (40%) to 8/37 (22%) and hormonal device usage, particularly the implant, increased from 9/47 (19%) to 11/37 (30%) over the 24 months from initial consultation.

CONCLUSION

Most patients in an integrated complex family planning-pediatric hematology oncology clinic will change their menstrual bleeding hormone treatment with initial consultation, although management may require multiple changes. The most common treatment 24 months following the initial consultation was hormonal devices.

IMPLICATIONS

Patients with blood disorders affecting menstrual bleeding have complex needs that could be addressed by an integrated complex family planning-pediatric hematology oncology clinic. Most patients require multiple changes in treatment to achieve adequate control of their bleeding, and patients were more likely to choose hormonal devices for management over time.