Relevance of gastrointestinal symptoms in endometriosis

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.

To investigate gastrointestinal symptoms in women with endometriosis and compare their frequency with that of the classical gynaecological symptoms.

Systematic exploration of symptoms in a consecutive series of 355 women undergoing operative laparoscopy for suspected endometriosis.

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.

Gastrointestinal symptoms are nearly as common as gynaecological symptoms in women with endometriosis and do not necessarily reflect bowel involvement.