Current dilatation and curettage practice: a need for revision.

A ten-year retrospective review of 1383 diagnostic dilatation and curettages (D&C) was done at a university hospital. It was found that the detection or diagnosis of uterine cancer did not significantly increase until after the age of 50. No significant pathologic findings were detected in 60% or more of the women until the age of 70. Premalignant or other than benign tissue was observed to increase from 4% in the age 29 or less group to a peak of 16% in the age 45 to 49 group. The authors conclude that the current practice of routine D&C for abnormal uterine bleeding provides a low yield of cancer diagnoses, and that the indications for this procedure should be sharply reduced or replaced by simpler methods.