A Rare Cause of Abdominal Pain: Scar Endometriosis

Abstract EN

Introduction.

Scar endometriosis (SE) is a rare pathology that develops in the scar tissue formed on the anterior abdominal wall usually after a cesarean section.

There have been instances of women presenting to emergency or general surgery clinics with abdominal pain due to SE.

Materials and Methods.

This study retrospectively reviews 19 patients who were operated on in our clinic between January 2010 and January 2017 with a prediagnosis of SE and were reported to have SE based on their pathology results.

Results.

The mean age of the patients was 30.8 years (range: 20-49 years).

The body mass indexes of 12 (63.2%) patients were ≥ 25.

All patients had a history of cesarean section and 9 (47.4%) patients had undergone cesarean section once.

With the exception of one patient who had her SE localized in her inguinal region, all patients had a mass localized on their anterior abdominal wall neighboring the incision and complained about cyclic pain starting in their premenstrual periods.

The complaints began 2 years after their cesarean section in 10 (52.6%) patients.

Mostly abdominal ultrasonography was used for diagnostic purposes.

The lesions were totally excised and the SE diagnosis was made through a histopathological examination in all patients.

No postoperative complications or recurrences were seen in any of the patients.

Conclusion.

Suspicion of SE is essential in women of reproductive age who have a history of cesarean section and complaints of an anterior abdominal wall mass and a pain at the scar site that is associated with their menstrual cycle.

An accurate and early diagnosis can be established in such patients through a careful history and a good physical examination and possible morbidities can be prevented with an appropriate surgical intervention.