Consequences of delayed diagnosis of acute gastrointestinal intussusception, secondary to endometriosis

Hysterectomy Rate Following Endometrial Ablation in Ontario: A Cohort Analysis of 76,446 Patients

Background

Endometrial Ablation (EA) is an alternative to hysterectomy for the management of abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB); however, it does not eliminate the need for future surgical re-intervention.

Objectives

The primary objective of this study was to establish long-term clinical outcomes including the risk of hysterectomy in women who had undergone a primary EA.

Materials and Methods

This is a retrospective population-based cohort study utilising administrative data from the Canadian province of Ontario. This study assesses patients undergoing surgery in a publicly funded health care system.

Main outcome measures

We assessed women in Ontario undergoing a primary EA over a 15-year period. The primary outcome was hysterectomy within 5 years of primary EA. Secondary outcomes included myomectomy and repeat EA. All outcomes were also reported for 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 years of follow-up. Logistic regression was used to establish predictors of hysterectomy within 5 years of primary EA.

Results

A total of 76,446 primary EAs were evaluated from 2002-2017, with 16,480 (21.56%) undergoing a subsequent surgical intervention. The average age of primary EA was 43.8 (+/- 6.3) years. Within 5 years, the evaluable cohort was 52,464, with 8,635 (16.46%) of women having proceeded to hysterectomy, 664 (1.27%) to myomectomy, and 2,468 (2.8%) to repeat ablation. By 15-years follow-up, the evaluable cohort was 1,788, with 28.75% had undergone a hysterectomy, 2.01% a myomectomy, and 5.20% a repeat EA. On logistic regression analysis, advancing age at time of EA was associated with significantly decreased odds of hysterectomy (OR=0.94, 95% CI 0.935-0.944, p<.0001) as was increasing surgical experience (OR=0.997, 95% CI 0.994-1.000, p=.022). Conversely, complex diagnosis (OR=1.102, 95% CI 1.042-1.164, p<.0001) and previous abdominal surgery (OR=1.288, 95% CI 1.222-1.357, p<0.0001) were associated with increased risk of subsequent hysterectomy.

Conclusion

Primary EA is associated with a high risk of progression to subsequent hysterectomy or other surgical intervention, without evidence of plateau of risk with long term follow-up.

What is new?

This study has the longest follow-up assessing hysterectomy outcomes in women undergoing a primary EA, with 28.75% of women having undergone a hysterectomy within 15 years of their EA.

Ileocolonic intussusception due to severe endometriosis

Endometriosis is the presence of normal endometrial tissue outside the uterus, which may appear in up to 15% of fertile female population. Bowel endometriosis is uncommon, and obstruction due to endometrial ileocolic intussusception is extremely rare. Herein, we report a case of a 27-year-old female who presented with bowel obstruction due to ileocolic intussusception secondary to endometriosis. A 27-year-old female, without pregnancies, and with a 1 year history of endometriosis presented to the emergency department referring severe abdominal pain in right lower quadrant, nausea and vomiting, she had medical history of prior episodes of mild abdominal pain due to endometriosis with OB/GYN follow-up. Physical examination revealed abdominal distension with decreased bowel movements to auscultation. A CT scan reported suspicion of intussusception. Colonoscopy was ordered, where an ileocolic intussusception was found. Diagnostic laparoscopy was performed, and the initial diagnosis was confirmed. A right hemicolectomy with extracorporeal anastomosis was achieved without any surgical complications. The patient was discharge on postoperative day 4 and continues doing well on a 12 month follow-up. Ileocolic intussusception due to endometriosis is a very rare condition, and it must be considered a differential diagnosis in female patients in reproductive age, when presenting with intestinal obstruction.

Ileocecal intussusception extending to left colon due to endometriosis

Bowel involvement in endometriosis is uncommon and is most frequently located in the sigmoid colon and the rectum. We present a case in a 37-year-old woman of a cecal endometrioid mass complicated with an ileocolic intussusception which extended beyond the splenic colon flexure. Careful manual extraction allowed a reduction of the intussusceptum, followed by an oncological right hemicolectomy. The patient suffered postoperative ileus, which was spontaneously solved. Intussusception is infrequent in the adult population and usually involves the small bowel. The great majority of ileocolic intussusceptions have a malignant origin (cecal adenocarcinoma). An endometriotic mass located at the cecum as the lead point for ileocolic intussusception is an extremely rare presentation. On reviewing the literature, we found only 13 reports with no other cases extending beyond the splenic flexure, as occurred in our patient.