What happens before a dilation and curettage (D&C)?
Your healthcare provider will take a full medical history before a D&C. You should make sure they know what medications you take or about any allergies you have. Be sure to tell them if you suspect you’re pregnant. They may ask you to stop eating and drinking beginning the evening before a D&C.
Healthcare providers may recommend medication to soften and dilate (widen) your cervix before a D&C either by using a laminaria stick or by giving you a medication called misoprostol.
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What happens during a dilation and curettage (D&C)?
Before the procedure, your provider will go over options for anesthesia with you. Your provider will recommend the best anesthesia option for you based on your medical history and why you’re having the procedure.
There are several options for anesthesia during a D&C:
- General anesthesia, where you’re asleep for the procedure.
- Regional anesthesia (like an epidural), which means you won’t have feeling from your waist down. You’re fully conscious with this type of anesthesia.
- Local anesthesia, which means only your cervix is numb. You’re awake and have feeling in all areas of your body other than your genital area.
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After you receive anesthesia, your provider will begin the procedure. The steps of a D&C generally go like this:
- You lie on a table with your feet in stirrups, like during a gynecologic exam.
- Your healthcare provider inserts a speculum into your vagina. This device, shaped like a duck’s bill, helps open your cervix. A clamp helps hold your cervix in place.
- Your provider will use dilators, which are thin metal rods that start small and then gradually increase in diameter. The rods gently stretch your cervix until it’s wide enough to accommodate the instruments your provider needs to complete the procedure.
- Your provider uses a curette, a type of spoon-shaped scraping device, to clean out the tissue from your uterus. They sometimes use a thin suction device to get any remaining tissue.
- They may send a sample of the tissue to a lab for analysis.
How long does a dilation and curettage (D&C) take?
The procedure itself takes about five to 10 minutes. But the entire process takes longer due to receiving anesthesia and other preparations. You’ll also need to wait in the recovery room for a few hours after the procedure before you go home.
Is having a D&C painful?
You may feel cramps similar to menstrual cramps after a D&C. Over-the-counter (OTC) pain medication like acetaminophen (Tylenol®) can relieve the cramps.
Are you put to sleep for a D&C?
Maybe. It depends on your health history and the reason you’re having a D&C. Not everyone receives general anesthesia.
What happens after this procedure?
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You’ll need someone to drive you home from the procedure. It’s normal to experience mild cramping and light bleeding (or spotting) for a few days after a D&C.
Use pads, not tampons, for the bleeding. Don’t begin having sex again until your healthcare provider tells you it’s safe to do so (usually about one week after the procedure). Until your cervix closes and returns to its normal size, you’re at a higher risk of bacteria entering your vagina and causing an infection. Your provider will tell you when you can resume having sex and using tampons.
You should be able to get back to your regular activities after a few days.
If your provider sent a sample of tissue for analysis, you can expect results within a week. Ask your healthcare provider about when and how you may receive biopsy results.
You usually have a follow-up visit with your healthcare provider within two weeks.
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