A rare case of sigmoid colon obstruction in patient with ulcerative colitis: role of transabdominal ultrasound-guided biopsy

Introduction

Endometriosis is a common chronic gynaecological disease affecting 10 % of women of reproductive age. Of these 5–12 % may present bowel endometriosis that may be asymptomatic or associated with aspecific symptoms even bowel obstruction.

Case presentation

The case of a 41-year-old woman with history of ulcerative colitis, previous diagnosis of ovarian endometriosis, recurrent abdominal pain not related to the menstrual cycle, with abdominal pain and obstinate constipation for 2 weeks was referred. The patient underwent colonoscopy, transabdominal ultrasound and ultrasound-guided fine-needle biopsy to have a diagnosis.

Discussion

Endometriosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of every woman of childbearing age who presents with gastrointestinal or abdominal symptoms. As demonstrated in our case and by the burgeoning literature in this field, we believe that the role of transabdominal ultrasound should be reconsidered in the management of abdominal diseases because this examination associated with ultrasound-guided fine-needle biopsy allows, in expert hands, to obtain adequate histological samples avoiding patients to undergo more invasive tests to get a diagnosis.