Bleeding disorders in women undergoing surgery for menorrhagia

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Disorders of Platelet Function and Coagulation in Women Undergoing Surgical Intervention for Severe Menorrhagia

• IRAS ID

  181936

• Contact name

  Clare Samuelson

• Contact email

  csamuelson@nhs.net

• Sponsor organisation

  Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Research Summary:
  Bleeding disorders including problems with the function of platelets ('sticky' parts of the blood) are common in women with menorrhagia (heavy periods). Prevalence is likely to be especially high amongst women with the most severe menorrhagia requiring surgical intervention (hysterectomy or endometrial ablation), but this has not previously been systematically investigated. Identification of underlying bleeding disorders in this population would enable medical management to be optimised and may avert the need for invasive procedures. In those still requiring surgery, directed management of the bleeding diathesis would allow safer periprocedural care. We plan to recruit 100 women referred for surgical management of menorrhagia into a prospective observational study and collect data on ISTH BAT scores, routine coagulation testing, von Willebrand disease testing, and extensive platelet function testing. Our aim is to determine the prevalence of platelet function defects and other disorders of coagulation in this population, and compare the sensitivity of various methods for investigation of platelet dysfunction in this population.

  Lay summary of study results: We carried out some extra blood tests on women who had been referred to have surgery for heavy periods (with their permission), to look for problems with blood clotting. A high proportion of women who need surgery for heavy periods were found to have problems with the way their platelets work (16%). This could be part of the reason they were bleeding very heavily. Once we found out about the platelet function problems, this meant they could have additional treatment for their bleeding and to make the surgery safer for them. We recommend that all women whose periods are so heavy that they need surgical treatment for this should have an extra blood test to look at whether their platelets are working normally or not.

• REC name

  Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  15/YH/0291

• Date of REC Opinion

  5 Oct 2015

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion