Colorectal endometriosis: Five years’ experience in this enigmatic problem

Özcem Öfkeli, Murat Ulaş, Volkan Öter, Erol Aksoy, Neslihan Zengin, İlter Özer, Erdal Birol Bostancı
In: Surgical Practice · 2017 · vol. 21(3) , pp. 116–121 · doi:10.1111/1744-1633.12261 · W3044197630
article OA: closed CC0
View on OpenAlex View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study reviewed five years of data on 11 patients with intestinal endometriosis, finding that surgery resolved pain in all resected patients and that the condition should be considered in women with relevant symptoms and diagnostic challenges.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Aim Endometriosis primarily affects women of reproductive age, and is responsible for impairing their quality of life. The presence of severe symptoms, including stenosis of the intestinal lumen, diagnostic difficulty (suspicion of malignancy) and intolerance to hormonal therapy, are indications for surgery. Despite numerous studies on endometriosis, there is still considerable controversy about its incidence, pathogenesis, diagnosis and optimal treatment. Patients and methods The present retrospective, observational study included 11 patients diagnosed with intestinal endometriosis between J anuary 2009 and D ecember 2013. Demographic data, clinical presentation, diagnostic modalities, localization of the disease and intraoperative data were collected. Results The median age of the patients was 43 years (34–63 years). Eight patients had intermittent abdominal pain, seven had change in bowel habits and three had rectal bleeding. Seven patients were operated on for severe stenosis of the intestinal lumen (intestinal obstruction), and three for a suspected malignancy. Postoperatively, all of the patients who underwent resection were free of pain. No patient had any disease recurrence on abdominal ultrasonography or computed tomography images. Conclusion Intestinal endometriosis should be considered in female patients of reproductive age presenting with constipation, rectal bleeding and abdominal pain. Repeated inadequate biopsies should also raise suspicion of intestinal endometriosis. Intestinal endometriosis is a rare disease with diagnostic difficulties, and despite medical management, treatment option is usually surgery. However, in patients diagnosed preoperatively with no intestinal obstruction, medical therapy can be tried.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

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 (23)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK