Management of bleeding in women on HRT

Abstract

Bleeding while on hormone replacement therapy is common. Debby Holloway explains the causes of this, investigations needed, and how to tailor treatment to the individual if no pathology is found Bleeding while taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a relatively common problem. The majority of women with post-menopausal bleeding – on and off HRT – will have either no cause or a benign cause, but about 10% of women will have endometrial cancer. Post-menopausal bleeding is defined as unscheduled vaginal bleeding that occurs a year after the last natural menstrual period or any breakthrough bleeding on cyclical HRT or breakthrough bleeding after 6 months on continuous combined therapy when there has been established amenorrhoea. Practice nurses must be aware of the problem of bleeding on HRT and each individual needs to be assessed for pathology. If no pathology is found, treatment should be tailored to the individual to overcome the bleeding issues.