Bowel Endometriosis Syndrome: a new scoring system for pelvic organ dysfunction and quality of life.

STUDY QUESTION

Is it possible to develop a validated score that can identify women with Bowel Endometriosis Syndrome (BENS) and be used to monitor the effect of medical and surgical treatment?

SUMMARY ANSWER

The BENS score can be used to identify women with BENS and to monitor the effect of medical and surgical treatment of women suffering from bowel endometriosis.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY

Endometriosis is a heterogeneous disease with extensive variation in anatomical and clinical presentation, and symptoms do not always correspond to the disease burden. Current endometriosis scoring systems are mainly based on anatomical and surgical findings.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: The score was developed and validated from a cohort of 525 women with medically or surgically treated bowel endometriosis from Aarhus and Copenhagen University Hospitals, Denmark.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING AND METHODS: Patients filled in questionnaires on pelvic pain, quality of life (QoL) and urinary, sexual and bowel function. Items were selected for the final score using clinical and statistical criteria. The chosen variables were included in a multivariate analysis. Individual score values were designated items to form the BENS score, which was divided into 'no BENS', 'minor BENS' and 'major BENS.' Internal and external validations were performed.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE

The six most important items were 'pelvic pain', 'use of analgesics', 'dyschezia', 'straining to urinate', 'fecal urgency' and 'satisfaction with sexual life'. The range of the BENS score (0-28) was divided into 0-8 (no BENS), 9-16 (minor BENS) and 17-28 (major BENS). External validation showed a significant association between BENS score and QoL (P = 0.0001).

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: The BENS scoring system is limited by the fact that it was developed from a single endometriosis unit in Denmark, making it susceptible to social, cultural and demographic bias.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS

It is the first endometriosis classification system to be based directly on the symptomatology of the patient. Validation in other languages will promote comparison of treatments and results across borders.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): No external funding was either sought or obtained for this study. A.F. is an investigator for Bayer, outside this work.