Clinical Prediction of Deeply Infiltrating Endometriosis before Surgery: Is It Feasible? A Review of the Literature

Márcia Mendonça Carneiro, Ivone Dirk de Sousa Filogônio, Luciana Maria Pyramo Costa, Ivete de Ávila, Márcia Cristina França Ferreira
BioMed research international · 2013 · vol. 2013 , pp. 1–8 · doi:10.1155/2013/564153 · PMID:24089684 · W1983959514
review OA: hybrid CC0 ⤵ 17 in-corpus citations
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This review found that while no single sign, symptom, or test perfectly diagnoses deeply infiltrating endometriosis, transvaginal ultrasound combined with digital examination may improve pre-surgical assessment.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is a chronic benign gynecologic disease that can cause pelvic pain and infertility affecting almost 10% of reproductive-age women. Deeply infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) is a specific entity responsible for painful symptoms which are related to the anatomic location of the lesions. Definitive diagnosis requires surgery, and histological confirmation is advisable. The aim of this paper is to review the current literature regarding the possibility of diagnosing DIE accurately before surgery. Despite its low sensitivity and specificity, vaginal examination and evaluation of specific symptoms should not be completely omitted as a basic diagnostic tool in detecting endometriosis and planning further therapeutic interventions. Recently, transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) has been reported as an excellent tool to diagnose DIE lesions in different locations (rectovaginal septum, retrocervical and paracervical areas, rectum and sigmoid, and vesical wall) with good accuracy. CONCLUSION: There are neither sufficiently sensitive and specific signs and symptoms nor diagnostic tests for the clinical diagnosis of DIE, resulting in a great delay between onset of symptoms and diagnosis. Digital examination, in addition to TVS, may help to gain better understanding of the anatomical extent and dimension of DIE which is of crucial importance in defining the best surgical approach.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisdie_deep_infiltratinginfertility

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometriosis Vagina Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Sensitivity and Specificity Ultrasonography Vagina Vagina

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (59)

Cited by (17)

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