Relevance of gastrointestinal symptoms in endometriosis

Background: Endometriosis commonly presents with a range of symptoms none of which are particularly specific for the condition, often resulting in misdiagnosis or delay in diagnosis. Aim: To investigate gastrointestinal symptoms in women with endometriosis and compare their frequency with that of th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Australian & New Zealand journal of obstetrics & gynaecology 2009-08, Vol.49 (4), p.411-414
Main Authors: MAROUN, Paulette, COOPER, Michael J. W., REID, Geoffrey D., KEIRSE, Marc J. N. C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Diagnosis, Differential
Dysmenorrhea
dyspareunia
Dyspareunia - etiology
endometriosis
Endometriosis - complications
Endometriosis - diagnosis
Endometriosis - surgery
Female
functional gastrointestinal disorder
Gastrointestinal Diseases - etiology
Gastrointestinal Diseases - surgery
Humans
irritable bowel syndrome
Irritable Bowel Syndrome - complications
Irritable Bowel Syndrome - diagnosis
Irritable Bowel Syndrome - surgery
Laparoscopy
Middle Aged
pelvic pain
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: Endometriosis commonly presents with a range of symptoms none of which are particularly specific for the condition, often resulting in misdiagnosis or delay in diagnosis. Aim: To investigate gastrointestinal symptoms in women with endometriosis and compare their frequency with that of the classical gynaecological symptoms. Methods: Systematic exploration of symptoms in a consecutive series of 355 women undergoing operative laparoscopy for suspected endometriosis. Results: Endometriosis was confirmed by histology in 290 women (84.5%). Bowel lesions were present in only 7.6%. Ninety per cent of women had gastrointestinal symptoms, of which bloating was the most common (82.8%), but 71.3% also had other bowel symptoms. All gastrointestinal symptoms were similarly predictive of histologically confirmed endometriosis. Seventy‐six women (21.4%) had previously been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome and 79% of them had endometriosis confirmed. Conclusion: Gastrointestinal symptoms are nearly as common as gynaecological symptoms in women with endometriosis and do not necessarily reflect bowel involvement.
ISSN:0004-8666
1479-828X
DOI:10.1111/j.1479-828X.2009.01030.x