[ALLEN-MASTERS SYNDROME AS A CAUSE FOR CHRONIC PELVIC PAIN: DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT AND LONG TERM FOLLOW-UP].

Chronic pelvic pain is one of the main causes for repeated ambulatory and hospital visits. The main findings on exploratory laparoscopy performed for these complaints are endometriosis and adhesions, while in more than 50% of cases, no cause for the pain is found. In 1955, Allen and Masters reported pain associated with traumatic labor. They reported retroverted and hyper-mobile uterus in all women and during operation, tears in the posterior serosa of the broad igament. A few therapeutic options have been discussed, including repair of the tears, but without long term follow-up and significant relief of symptoms. Tightening of the utero-sacral ligaments following peritoneal resection of the Douglas as a long effective treatment was initially suggested in France in 1972. In 1997, von Theobald showed that it could be conducted by laparoscopy with long term follow-up. We report 3 cases of women diagnosed with Allen-Masters Syndrome, the surgical treatment performed and the long follow-up of these patients. We also discuss the ways to diagnose the syndrome and the preferred modality of treatment.