What Causes Vaginal Bleeding After Hysterectomy?

Posted on Fri, 13 Jun 2014

Question: Yes. I'm a 52 year old woman, 16 years post-hysterectomy. The hysterectomy was complete, including the tubes and ovaries. It was done due to ovarian cancer. All tests in the years following have been good. Tonight I used the restroom and wiped. On the tissue was a quite large puddle of blood with what looked like clots, which were shiny and black. I have been feeling worse than usual all day, and I have MS and Fibromyalgia, which is what I attributed the pain to. Now I'm unsure. I am continuing to bleed, enough that I sent my husband out to purchase sanitary pads! Is this something to worry about and/or should I go to the ER? Thank you!!

Answered by Dr. Dr. Rakhi Tayal (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Can go to ER if heavy bleeding.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for trusting us with your health concern.
The vaginal bleeding after hysterectomy is worrisome. The most common gynaecological causes would be vaginal atrophy or dryness or problems related to the cervix if it was a subtotal hysterectomy.
The vaginal dryness would respond to topical estrogen replacement creams and a pap smear would be able to assess the state of the cervix to determine if there are any problems with it.
You need to visit your gynecologist for proper investigations to find out the cause. In case the bleeding is heavy then attending an ER would be advisable.
Please feel free to discuss further. I will be glad to answer the follow up queries that you have.
Wishing you good health.
Regards.
Dr. Rakhi Tayal.
For future query, you can directly approach me through my profile URL http://bit.ly/Dr-Rakhi-Tayal

Note: Revert back with your gynae reports to get a clear medical analysis by our expert Gynecologic Oncologist. Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar