Transvaginal ultrasound questions!

[Littlenestofvipers]

I’m having a transvaginal ultrasound next week and wondered if anyone else had had one and if it showed anything? Also I plan on going back to work straight after, did others find it triggered endo pain?

[HE12]

Hi, yes I've had one and they found an endometrioma. I went straight back to work afterwards didn't trigger any pain for me. X

[BrightLights88]

Hi, I have had transvaginal scan 6 times since 2018 when I was diagnosed. Just had the results from one of those scans yesterday. It is pointless scan and doesnt detect much as it can not really focus deep. My doctor said it was pointless as it stated the womb was not clear and they could not see the ovary clearly. Anyways it is painful after. I go back to work straight after it all the time but be aware that it is painful when you walk around after, and especially using the loo. the pain is like as if the probe is still inside you type if pain. I bled first time on the last scan and it was more painful than any other ones.

my endo spoke said MRI is much better at detecting endo and when he sent me for this he found my bowel was damaged from stage 4 endo. He said not to have transvaginal scan it's pointless. Yes they may see cyst but only within the ovary area and womb are nothing else.

[Littlenestofvipers in reply to BrightLights88]

I thought it might be a pointless exercise but the doctor is adamant on doing this first which I find really frustrating and she is the same and admits it doesn’t show much. I’m gonna pay privately for an MRI because this whole process is taking way too long!

[BrightLights88 in reply to Littlenestofvipers]

my first one conducted when I first went in for severe abdominal pain, and so they can detect if anything was in my ovary and so they saw the cyst in my uterus. There after they diagnosed it as endometriosis nothing else.

I then had to have that scan everytime I was going in for a flare up. But this was done because I was under gynae specialist.

I then referred myself to a endo specialist at a different hospital and he said the gynae should have opted for MRI not transvaginal scans because endo can also be in the bowel that won't be picked up under transvaginal scan. So we did a MRI and I was told I'm now stage 4 coz it was not treated quickly. Now I am in a better place I havent had much endo pain just lower back pain.

[BrightLights88 in reply to BrightLights88]

check the bsge website and see which endo centre hospital is nearer to you. And go to your gp and ask them you want to be referred there. You will get better answers to questions you may have regarding pain management and what endo is etc. I felt like under gynae they left me hanging with no answers

[Littlenestofvipers in reply to BrightLights88]

The hospital I’m at is an endo centre but I’m under a normal gynae. I’ve had 5 months of zoladex and it isn’t working and the gynae has still not referred me to the specialist who’s in the same bloody building! Had to go back to my GP and ask for a rereferral to the specialist which I’m still waiting for 😞

[wanwood]

Mine showed a) a cyst and b) that one of my ovaries was pulled out of position and stuck to the uterus. So that was helpful.

I had mine done in the endo unit and they were very sensitive and gentle and it was fine. I was physically fine afterwards although a bit shaken up by the stress of the appointment.

I’ve had TV ultrasounds done since in other departments and they were much less gentle.

[Bubble_by in reply to wanwood]

Hi,

I had an tv ultrasound done and mine showed the same thing as yours! If you don't mind my asking, what treatment are you having for it?

[wanwood in reply to Bubble_by]

Surgery. Because my cyst was so large and had caused the ovary to be very enlarged, I couldn't have all the work needed done at once. They removed the cyst in one lap, and more than 6 months later went back and did the rest --- dealt with the adhesions, freed the other ovary and excised all of the endo they could find in a second lap. It has definitely made an improvement in my life to have had the cyst and endo removed, although recovering from two procedures adds up to a lot of time and is a major thing.

[Fraser1]

I've had 2 done this year and there was a little pain afterwards but not to the degree that I couldn't go back to work.

I wouldn't say they are useless, mine detected a cyst on my ovary and a polyp in my womb. I'm still only suspected of having endometriosis, I'm waiting on an appointment for a laproscopy and hysteroscopy.

I think the scans are part of the journey to a diagnosis, I hope you get on OK x

[Penguins_81]

Hi, I had a tv done in the gynae dept of hospital and it showed I had a 10cm endometrioma on my ovary.

I said beforehand that normal smear tests hurt and she was really careful with me and explained every step as she was doing it.

Wasn’t pain free but was fine, afterwards I went straight to work and didn’t have any problems.

Good luck and talk to the person doing it. Xx

[Littlenestofvipers in reply to Penguins_81]

The person didn’t wanna talk at all, she was so rude. I told her it was giving me pelvic pain and she didn’t respond. Apparently mine showed nothing but she was just a general ultrasound person

[Penguins_81 in reply to Littlenestofvipers]

Sorry to hear you had such a rude person. Xx

[Hazeybabes]

I have had a few, not really painful, uncomfortable at best.

They found cysts in both ovaries and fibroids just outside the womb.

I was then booked in for my diagnostic lap, which showed much more going on. Wouldn’t say it’s pointless but I’m guessing they need to have some idea of what is going on down there before they get to operate.

[budgeroo]

Yep, and mine didn't show anything. The guy doing the scan said my insides looked "very unremarkable" which was almost a bit insulting but what he meant was he couldn't see anything wrong. Didn't trigger any pain, it was just uncomfortable.

[Littlenestofvipers in reply to budgeroo]

Just had a similar experience the woman was SO rude and apparently hasn’t shown anything

[budgeroo in reply to Littlenestofvipers]

It's weirdly disappointing when they don't find anything... I obviously don't want there to be something wrong, but just because they haven't found a cause, doesn't make my symptoms magically disappear! After my "unremarkable" ultrasound, my GP got the receptionist to call me to tell me I am fine, no follow up needed. I am not fine! Followed up with a different GP who (fingers crossed) will refer me to Gynae/endo consultant.

[StefaniaJW]

No, it doesn't cause pain, maybe some discomfort during.

Unless the gynaecologist performing it is a trained gyn in endometriosis who is so skilled they can see endo via ultrasound, they will not see much. Also a trained endo gyn will also look at your rectum and perform an ultrasound on the kidneys.

You need to prepare some interesting questions like:

- Is my uterus painful when moved? Do you see a retroversion? Are my uterosacral ligaments thickened (BIG sign of endo)?

- Is there anything visible in my pouch of Douglas?

- Can you see my tubes? (if they can, it's a red flag of endo on the tubes or previous infections)

- Can you see any nodules?

- Are my ovaries in place or are they moved to a different location? Do you see any cysts on my ovaries? Are those water or chocolate cysts/endometriomas?

If your gyn cannot answer all of these questions, they are not trained to recognize endo via ultrasound

[JSY_Bean]

Hey, I wish you luck. I’ve had transvaginal ultrasounds a few times and each time has been very uncomfortable, but I found its worth the pain as for me they were able to determine that I do have endo. Just see it as a way of making them believe the obvious and once they’ve done it, you shouldn’t have to do it again! I’d take something sugary for afterwards as I tend to need a treat to look forward to x

[Mastiffmum1980]

I’ve had about 10 of these over the past 18 months I get one before every appointment with my consultant and I have never had any issues with them and gone back to work straight after.