What are the perceptions of women towards transvaginal sonographic examinations?

Sonographers in Australia commonly perform transvaginal sonography (TVS) as part of routine practice. Sonographers require guidelines for best practice when performing TVS examinations to enable patient satisfaction and best healthcare outcomes and to minimise risk of complaints and litigation, which may arise due to the intimate nature of the examination. We performed a literature review to provide insight into the perceptions of women who have experienced a TVS. Six studies were identified, which explored the perceptions of women who had undertaken a TVS. This review identifies strategies that may have contributed to high acceptance rates of TVS. The findings of the review were inconclusive in determining women's preferences for male or female TVS examiners and revealed that guidelines encouraging sonographers to have a chaperone when they perform TVS appear to be in conflict with women's preferences.