Endometriosis is a complex condition that affects many women and makes for a tricky ultrasound assessment. What we're taught about it in school barely touches on the subject and I was shocked to learn how much more we could be doing to assess for endometriosis during female pelvic scans.
Join me to learn about another way to be a more awesome sonographer than ever before, with this 2 part article on what we didn't know about endometriosis.
Join me to learn about another way to be a more awesome sonographer than ever before, with this 2 part article on what we didn't know about endometriosis.
What we as sonographers already know about endometriosis is that it is a condition where endometrial tissue, which normally lines the inside of the uterus, is found outside of it. Most commonly, this tissue is trapped in the pelvic area or lower abdomen as endometriomas, but it can also be found in other areas of the body, such as throughout the colon and intestine, at the umbilicus and on the bladder wall.
What we sonographers don’t commonly know about endometriosis is that takes an average of 6-12 years to be diagnosed properly. It affects 10-15% of women and causes infertility in 30-50% of them (See reference here). Endometriosis can have a family history among the women such as mother, sister and female cousins. It is a disease that has a negative effect on lifestyle, work and intimacy and basically causes menstrual periods that prevent women from living a normal life.
Symptoms of endometriosis do vary in severity and can include incredibly painful or heavy periods, pain during intercourse, overwhelming fatigue, severe gastrointestinal symptoms such as frequent and persistent diarrhea, nausea, constipation, bloating, rectal bleeding, proctitis, tenesmus, and colic rectal pain. It can also cause lower urinary tract symptoms, such as hematuria, non-microbial cystitis, recurrent urinary tract infections, dysuria and infertility or difficulty carrying a pregnancy to term.
It’s important to know that these types of period symptoms are NOT NORMAL! Terribly painful periods that affect a woman’s life EVERY month should not be suffered through silently. They are not the way that periods should be and every woman has a right to assessment and treatment to help improve and manage their menstrual cycle.
Unfortunately this is not widely known, often women are taught that it’s just the way that periods are and nothing can be done. But as part of the healthcare system, we sonographers have the ability to educate ourselves and share that knowledge with others to get the word out there. We can also use this knowledge to ask more penetrating history questions of our patients and assess more thoroughly for any possible signs of endometriosis to help women get diagnosed faster and earlier.
Interested in learning more about how to assess for endometriosis? Then join me for my next blog post where I explain just that.
Happy Scanning!
What we sonographers don’t commonly know about endometriosis is that takes an average of 6-12 years to be diagnosed properly. It affects 10-15% of women and causes infertility in 30-50% of them (See reference here). Endometriosis can have a family history among the women such as mother, sister and female cousins. It is a disease that has a negative effect on lifestyle, work and intimacy and basically causes menstrual periods that prevent women from living a normal life.
Symptoms of endometriosis do vary in severity and can include incredibly painful or heavy periods, pain during intercourse, overwhelming fatigue, severe gastrointestinal symptoms such as frequent and persistent diarrhea, nausea, constipation, bloating, rectal bleeding, proctitis, tenesmus, and colic rectal pain. It can also cause lower urinary tract symptoms, such as hematuria, non-microbial cystitis, recurrent urinary tract infections, dysuria and infertility or difficulty carrying a pregnancy to term.
It’s important to know that these types of period symptoms are NOT NORMAL! Terribly painful periods that affect a woman’s life EVERY month should not be suffered through silently. They are not the way that periods should be and every woman has a right to assessment and treatment to help improve and manage their menstrual cycle.
Unfortunately this is not widely known, often women are taught that it’s just the way that periods are and nothing can be done. But as part of the healthcare system, we sonographers have the ability to educate ourselves and share that knowledge with others to get the word out there. We can also use this knowledge to ask more penetrating history questions of our patients and assess more thoroughly for any possible signs of endometriosis to help women get diagnosed faster and earlier.
Interested in learning more about how to assess for endometriosis? Then join me for my next blog post where I explain just that.
Happy Scanning!