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Discussion

Risk of D&C

What are the risks of doing a d&c? Pardon my ignorance but ob-gyn is not my specialty. I am a tele nurse.

I would think the risk of not doing it is greater than the risk of doing it when someone continues to bleed and is passing large clots.

I am just curious and think I was caught with a moral dilemma regarding a patient. Basically I was very upset for the patient because no one would do anything for her bleeding except give blood transfusions.

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Hi. though not a nurse YET... I have had a couple D & C's in my time and know these things. First, a D & C is a blind procedure meaning that the doctor cannot actually "see" into the uterus and therefore it isn't done a lot like it used to be. Secondly, today's OB/Gyn's do something called a hysteroscopy to look into the uterus instead of a D & C. This allows them to actually put a scope into the uterus and view it, then insert instruments to snare polyps, currette the lining, or cauterize bleeding, they can even insert a camera and give you a good look inside! Hope this helps. :)

I am not a ob/gyn nurse either, but I would imagine the biggies would be risk for perforation, and risk for infection.

Like the last poster said, a regular D&C is blind anything can happen. Nothing is worse than DUB, and it seems a lot of nurses suffer from it. However, there are alot of causes behind it. Everything from endocrine disorders to polyps, obesity to uterine ca.

Obviously, if the patient's bleeding is that severe to require transfusions, she may have been told in the past that she would require a hysterectomy-perhaps she isn't ready yet.

Maisy;)

  • Expert

In my experience, it depends on what the source of the bleeding is. If it's fibroids, a d&c isn't the way to go, and it may actually hurt more than help. Have they done an u/s, or a GYN consult?

However, we sometimes do d&cs (ob/gyn here) if a postpartum mom is bleeding & bleeding, passing clots and we can't get it to stop any other way. Usually there is some placental or membrane fragment in the way, and once that's gone, the bleeding usually goes WAY down. Hope this helps.

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