Transvaginal sonography for preoperative assessment of deep endometriosis

To determinate transvaginal scan (TVS) accuracy in the preoperative evaluation of deep endometriosis in a large cohort of patients with subsequent laparoscopic assessment.

A retrospective study was performed in a tertiary referral center for endometriosis. Transvaginal scan reports were retrieved from an electronic database of all patients who underwent laparoscopy for pelvic pain or infertility in 2009. The accuracy of TVS was assessed for 10 different sites of pelvic endometriosis.

Four hundred twenty women were included in the study. Sensitivity and specificity of TVS were 61% and 99%, respectively, for bladder endometriosis, 52% and 96% for endometriosis of rectovaginal septum, 65% and 99% for rectum endometriosis, and 69% and 98% for endometriosis of the sigmoid colon.

TVS appears to be useful for the detection of endometriosis located in the bladder and involving the sigmoid colon, the rectovaginal septum, and the rectum.