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Relevance of gastrointestinal symptoms in endometriosis
Author(s) -
MAROUN Paulette,
COOPER Michael J. W.,
REID Geoffrey D.,
KEIRSE Marc J. N. C.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.734
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1479-828X
pISSN - 0004-8666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1479-828x.2009.01030.x
Subject(s) - endometriosis , medicine , irritable bowel syndrome , bloating , gastroenterology , pelvic pain , abdominal pain , surgery
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.