Clinical Handbook of Gynecology 2026: Evidence-Based Principles of Benign Disease, Reproductive Endocrinology, and Oncologic Management for Ob-Gyn Residents

Recognize the Pattern Before It Becomes the Miss

Built for the OB-GYN resident who has to separate mittelschmerz from torsion, routine hirsutism from an androgen-secreting tumor, and postmenopausal spotting from endometrial cancer — often within the same clinic block — this handbook connects the anatomic, hormonal, and pathologic mechanisms behind gynecologic disease to the decisions made in clinic, on call, and in the OR. It moves through benign gynecology, reproductive endocrinology and contraception, urogynecology, and gynecologic oncology, applying evidence-based staging, risk-stratified screening, and structured surgical protocols to real presentations rather than isolated facts.

The Gynecologic Presentation Compass, a five-part pattern-recognition system built into every chapter and consolidated in a cross-referenced Directory, names the diagnostic trap behind each presentation and the anchor practice that avoids it.

Inside, You Will Learn How To

• Sort abnormal uterine bleeding with the PALM-COEIN framework — etiologic reasoning that catches a structural or systemic cause before symptomatic treatment begins.

• Rule out torsion first — the time-sensitive pattern that keeps acute unilateral pelvic pain from being triaged as routine cramping.

• Separate routine PCOS from an androgen-secreting tumor — tempo-and-severity reasoning that flags hirsutism requiring urgent escalation.

• Identify occult stress incontinence before prolapse repair — reduction testing that prevents an unanticipated postoperative diagnosis.

• Apply risk-based cervical screening management — individualized risk from current result plus screening history, not a fixed pathway tied to today's finding alone.

• Trigger universal Lynch syndrome tumor screening on every endometrial cancer diagnosis — testing that doesn't wait for a suggestive family history.

• Catch ovarian cancer earlier — the new-persistent-worsening symptom screen built for a disease with no effective population test.

• Reason through postoperative fever by postoperative day — evidence-based differential that replaces reflexive antibiotic escalation with day-specific logic.

The patients on tomorrow's schedule are the reason this pattern recognition exists — bring it into the room with you.