You’ll be taken to the procedure room.
Your anaesthetist will insert an intravenous cannula into a vein for anaesthetic, fluid and other drugs. You’ll be unconscious or heavily sedated for your procedure.
If you’re having spinal anaesthesia, general anaesthesia or sedation, your anaesthetist will give it to you.
You may be given antibiotics intravenously or orally to help prevent infection.
You will be positioned to lie in bed with your legs supported and a sheet covering your lower half.
Your surgeon will insert an instrument called a speculum into your vagina to hold it open.
They’ll use a special instrument to grasp your cervix and gradually widen the open to your uterus with increasingly sized dilators.
Once your cervix is dilated, they’ll insert the curette (an instrument with a flat metal loop at the end) into your uterine cavity and gently scrape away the soft lining of your uterus.
The removed tissue is then sent to a pathologist for microscopic examination.
Once your surgeon has obtained enough tissue, the procedure is finished.
Suction curettage (also called vacuum aspiration) uses a plastic cannula (hollow tube) instead of a curette. It’s attached to a suction device to remove the contents of your uterus.
If you’re awake for your D&C, you may feel discomfort similar to period cramps during the procedure.
Your D&C can take between 10 and 20 minutes, but if it’s just being done to diagnose or investigate your symptoms, it may be over in just 5 to 10 minutes.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Information is provided by HCF in good faith for the convenience of members. It is not an endorsement or recommendation of any form of treatment nor is it a substitute for medical advice, and you should rely on the advice of your treating doctors in relation to all matters concerning your health. Every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information, however HCF takes no responsibility for any injury, loss, damage or other consequences of the use of this information.
