Postoperative pelvic pain: An imaging approach

Postoperative pelvic pain after gynecological surgery is a readily detected but unspecific sign of complication. Imaging as a complement to physical examination helps establish the etiological diagnosis. In the context of emergency surgery, vascular, urinary and digestive injuries constitute the most frequent intraoperative complications. During the follow-up of patients who had undergone pelvic surgery, imaging should be performed to detect recurrent disease, postoperative fibrosis, adhesions and more specific complications related to prosthetic material. Current guidelines recommend using pelvic ultrasonography as the first line imaging modality whereas the use of pelvic computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging should be restricted to specific situations, depending on local availability of equipment and suspected disease.