Rectal water contrast transvaginal ultrasound versus double-contrast barium enema in the diagnosis of bowel endometriosis

Jipeng Jiang, Ying Liu, Kun Wang, Xixiang Wu, Ying Tang
BMJ open · 2017 · vol. 7(9) , pp. e017216 · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017216 · PMID:28882922 · PMC5595180 · W2752747744
article OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 10 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study compared rectal water contrast transvaginal ultrasound (RWC-TVS) and double-contrast barium enema (DCBE) for diagnosing bowel endometriosis, finding both methods highly accurate but patients tolerating RWC-TVS better.

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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The aim of study was to compare the accuracy between rectal water contrast transvaginal ultrasound (RWC-TVS) and double-contrast barium enema (DCBE) in evaluating the bowel endometriosis presence as well as its extent. DESIGN AND SETTING: 198 patients at reproductive age with suspicious bowel endometriosis were included. Physicians in two groups specialised at endometriosis performed RWC-TVS as well as DCBE before laparoscopy and both groups were blinded to other groups' results. Findings from RWC-TVS or DCBE were compared with histological results. The severity of experienced pain severity through RWC-TVS or DCBE was assessed by an analogue scale of 10 cm. RESULTS: In total, 110 in 198 women were confirmed to have endometriosis nodules in the bowel by laparoscopy as well as histopathology. For bowel endometriosis diagnosis, DCBE and RWC-TVS demonstrated sensitivities of 96.4% and 88.2%, specificities of 100% and 97.3%, positive prediction values of 100% and 98.0%, negative prediction values of 98.0% and 88.0%, accuracies of 98.0% and 92.4%, respectively. DCBE was related to more tolerance than RWC-TVS. CONCLUSIONS: RWC-TVS and DCBE demonstrated similar accuracies in the bowel endometriosis diagnosis; however, patients showed more tolerance for RWC-TVS than those with DCBE.

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Condition tags

endometriosisbowel_endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Colonic Diseases Contrast Media Endometriosis Water Adult Barium Enema China Colonic Diseases Endometriosis Female Humans Laparoscopy Prospective Studies Rectum Sensitivity and Specificity Ultrasonography Vagina

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Cited by (10)

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