STUDY OBJECTIVE

To compare the accuracy of transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) with and without bowel preparation (BP) to detect and describe intestinal nodules of deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) with laparoscopic findings.

DESIGN

A prospective study of paired data (Canadian Task Force classification II.1).

SETTING

A tertiary university hospital from November 2014 to November 2015.

PATIENTS

A cohort of women awaiting surgery for endometriosis.

INTERVENTIONS

The wall of the rectum and the lower sigmoid colon of the patients were evaluated by 2 TVUSs: the first ultrasound was performed without previous BP, and the second was done after a 3-day low-residue diet and two 250-mL enemas 12 hours and 3 hours before TVUS.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

The presence or absence of rectosigmoid nodules visualized by TVUS with and without BP was compared with laparoscopic results. Forty patients with a mean age of 36.8 ± 5.0 years were included in the study. By comparing the surgical findings histologically confirmed (the presence or absence of bowel nodules and localization) with those of the 2 TVUSs with and without BP, the sensitivity, specificity, and Cohen kappa were 100%, 96%, and 0.95 and 73%, 88%, and 0.61, respectively. Laparoscopy showed that up to 37.5% of patients (15/40) presented bowel involvement. Variables were clearly more evaluable with than without BP.

CONCLUSION

TVUS with BP has a higher accuracy than TVUS without BP. BP allows and facilitates the detection of more rectal nodules of DIE in patients with suspected endometriosis and surgical criteria.