Bowel endometriosis: Recent insights and unsolved problems (original) (raw)

Bowel Endometriosis: Current Perspectives on Diagnosis and Treatment

International Journal of Women's Health, 2020

Endometriosis is a chronic condition primarily affecting young women of reproductive age. Although some women with bowel endometriosis may be asymptomatic patients typically report a myriad of symptoms such as alteration in bowel habits (constipation/diarrhoea) dyschezia, dysmenorrhoea and dyspareunia in addition to infertility. To date, there are no clear guidelines on the evaluation of patients with suspected bowel endometriosis. Several techniques have been proposed including transvaginal and/or transrectal ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging, and double-contrast barium enema. These different imaging modalities provide greater information regarding presence, location and extent of endometriosis ensuring patients are adequately informed whilst also optimizing preoperative planning. In cases where surgical management is indicated, surgery should be performed by experienced surgeons, in centres with access to multidisciplinary care. Treatment should be tailored according to patient symptoms and wishes with a view to excising as much disease as possible, whilst at the same time preserving organ function. In this review article current perspectives on diagnosis and management of bowel endometriosis are discussed.

Bowel endometriosis: a surgical red flag

International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology

Endometriosis is a disease restricted usually to the female genital tract. Involvement of the bowel by this disease can lead to a diagnostic dilemma due to the great variation in the symptomatology. Awareness of the pathophysiology, clinical features and diagnostic modalities is of utmost importance to decide the modality of treatment. Hormonal manipulation and surgical resection are the two modalities of treatment. The choice depends upon critical analysis of clinical and radiological findings and the desire to have pregnancy in cases associated with infertility.

Bowel endometriosis: diagnosis and management

American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 2017

The most common location of extragenital endometriosis is the bowel. Medical treatment may not provide long-term improvement in patients who are symptomatic, and consequently most of these patients may require surgical intervention. Over the past century, surgeons have continued to debate the optimal surgical approach to treating bowel endometriosis, weighing the risks against the benefits. In this expert review we will describe how the recommended surgical approach depends largely on the location of disease, in addition to size and depth of the lesion. For lesions approximately 5-8 cm from the anal verge, we encourage conservative surgical management over resection to decrease the risk of short- and long-term complications.

[Bowel endometriosis: a benign disease?]

Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira (1992)

Endometriosis is generally assumed to be a benign disease, but it is estimated that 1% of cases are associated with cancer, especially when both conditions are present in the ovary. Extra-ovarian lesions in the rectovaginal septum, colon, bladder, vagina and peritoneum were already associated with malign neoplasia. Several characteristics of endometrial tissue are very similar to the neoplasia phenotype. Endometriosis itself typically behaves as a neoplasia process, spreading over adjacent stroma and being associated with distant lesions. This is an update on the diagnostic, clinical, and therapeutic knowledge of, management of bowel implants of endometrial tissue, as well as the relation with neoplastic processes to better understand its benign nature or eventual potential for malignancy.

Endoscopic Ultrasound and Intestinal Endometriosis

Endoscopic Ultrasound - From Usual to Special, 2017

Endometriosis is a benign gynecological disease characterized by histological confirmation of the presence of ectopic endometrial glands and/or endometrial stroma. The main clinical gynecologic manifestations include chronic pelvic pain, back pain, menstrual disorders, and infertility. Over 60% of women with endometriosis have chronic intestinal symptoms. Intestinal involvement occurs in up to 12% of patients. Intestinal deep infiltrating endometriosis is defined as the lesion infiltrating at least the muscular layer of the bowel wall. Gynecological pelvic exam is not sufficient for the diagnosis of the location of deeply infiltrating endometriosis. Imaging methods can suggest the diagnosis of endometriosis and help to map the disease. Transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) has been used for more than a decade for the diagnosis and staging of deep endometriosis, providing relevant data for surgical treatment. It is useful to determine the depth of infiltration and the distance from the anal junction. The recent trend is to prefer nodule excision, when feasible, rather than radical digestive resection; therefore, it is important to take into consideration the staging of rectal and sigmoid infiltrating endometriosis in the preoperative clinical evaluation.

Bowel endometriosis: a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge

Hormone Molecular Biology and Clinical Investigation, 2017

Bowel endometriosis is the most common extragenital manifestation of endometriosis. Clinical suspicion is of utmost importance for achieving its diagnosis. Management of this condition is, however, always challenging to the gynaecologist. We report a case of bowel endometriosis in which the patient presented with dyschezia and haematochezia prior to her menses for the past 2 years. A 44-year-old para two woman presented with worsening dysmenorrhea and dyspareunia. She also experienced dyschezia and haematochezia prior to her menses for the past 2 years. An examination revealed a fixed retroverted uterus. A computed tomography scan showed focal bowel thickening. She underwent a colonoscopy examination and biopsy that revealed stromal endometriosis. She was subsequently treated with dienogest and became asymptomatic. Diagnosis and management of this debilitating illness was revisited and discussed.

Surgery for gastrointestinal endometriosis: indications and results

Acta chirurgica Belgica

Although gastrointestinal endometriosis is an uncommon and often unexpected finding, the best treatment requires removal of all endometriotic lesions. The purpose of our study was to report our experience with the diagnosis and treatment of bowel endometriosis. From January 1997 to January 2004, 13 patients (mean 35.7y ; range 21-55y) were operated for bowel endometriosis. We noted: age, history of endometriosis, previous pregnancies, preoperative investigations and symptoms, operative procedure and intraoperative findings. Follow-up varied between one month postoperative examination and seven years. Presenting symptoms of the cases were: acute appendicitis (3), dysmenorrhoea (7), constipation (6), pelvic pain (2), rectal bleeding (3) and dyspareunia (2). Operative management was performed in accordance with the anatomical distribution. Seven patients had a history of previous operations and multifocal involvement was present in 61.5% of cases. At a median follow-up of 12.2 months, ...

Transrectal ultrasound - Techniques and outcomes in the management of intestinal endometriosis

Endoscopic Ultrasound, 2012

The widespread use of endoscopic ultrasound has facilitated the evaluation of subepithelial and surrounding lesions of the gastrointestinal tract. Deep pelvic endometriosis, with or without infiltration of the intestinal wall, is a frequent disease that can be observed in women in their fertile age. Patients of this disease may present nonspecific signs and symptoms or be completely asymptomatic. Laparoscopic surgical resection of endometriotic lesions is the treatment of choice in symptomatic patients. An accurate preoperative evaluation is indispensable for therapeutic decisions mainly in the suspicion of intestinal wall and/or urinary tract infiltration, and also in cases where we need to establish histological diagnosis or to rule out malignant disease. Diagnostic tools, including transrectal ultrasound, magnetic resonance image, transvaginal ultrasound, barium enema, and colonoscopy, play significant roles in determining the presence, depth, histology, and other relevant data about the extension of the disease. Diagnostic algorithm depends on the clinical presentation, the expertise of the medical team, and the technology available at each institution. This article reviews and discusses relevant clinical points in endometriosis, including techniques and outcomes of the study of the disease through transrectal ultrasound and fineneedle aspiration.