Diagnosis of bowel endometriosis: A review

Simone Ferrero; Matteo Morotti; Mario Valenzano Menada; Pier Luigi Venturini; Ennio Biscaldi; Giovanni Camerini; Valentino Remorgida

doi:10.5301/je.2010.1966

Diagnosis of bowel endometriosis: A review

Simone Ferrero, Matteo Morotti, Mario Valenzano Menada, Pier Luigi Venturini, Ennio Biscaldi, Giovanni Camerini, Valentino Remorgida

2010 · vol. 2(2) , pp. 71–78 · doi:10.5301/je.2010.1966 · W1772456945

review OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 3 in-corpus citations

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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This review evaluates imaging techniques for bowel endometriosis, finding that while barium enema, MRI, and CT enteroclysis are accurate, transvaginal ultrasonography is recommended as the first-line investigation due to its accuracy, tolerability, and low cost.

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Abstract

Since the presence of intestinal endometriosis cannot be reliably established by physical examination or the evaluation of intestinal symptoms, imaging techniques are required for the diagno- sis of bowel endometriosis. This review evaluates the techniques available for the diagnosis of intestinal endometriosis based on a search of the Medline database and Embase up to February 2010. Several studies have proved that radiological techniques (double contrast barium enema, magnetic resonance imaging, and multidetector computerized tomography enteroclysis) are able to accurately diagnose intestinal endometriosis. Magnetic resonance imaging has the advantage of determining the presence of deep endometriotic lesions in other pelvic locations. Rectal endoscopic ultrasonography can precisely determine the presence of bowel endometriosis but its use is limited by the availability of the equipment required to carry out the exam. Over the last five years, several studies have proved that transvaginal ultrasonography is accurate in the diagnosis of rectosigmoid endometriosis; in addition, this exam is well tolerated by patients and is inexpen- sive. Therefore, transvaginal ultrasonography should be the first-line investigation in patients with suspected intestinal endometriosis.

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References (44)

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