Endometriosis can be located in the intestine (rectum, sigmoid, colon, appendix, ileo-caecal junction and ileum) and cause digestive symptoms. The main characteristic of the digestive signs of endometriosis is that they recur every month, and intensify during menstruation. The doctor must be aware of these in order to question you, so as not to ignore digestive endometriosis.
What are the symptoms of endometriosis with digestive involvement?
The main digestive symptoms are as follows
- Intestinal transit disorders with alternating diarrhoea and constipation
- Rectal dyschezia, i.e. difficulty and/or pain during defecation
- Abdominal bloating
- Rectorrhagia, i.e. the presence of red blood in the stool
- Signs of intestinal obstruction, especially for lesions of the ileum (large intestine and/or ileo-caecal junction)
These digestive signs are not synonymous with digestive endometriosis. It is their presence and/or their intensification during menstruation that is/are in favour of a diagnosis of digestive endometriosis.
These digestive symptoms can in fact be observed in other pathologies, sometimes associated with endometriosis, which complicates the diagnosis. In particular:
- Irritable bowel syndrome: functional intestinal disorders without organic lesions
- Certain inflammatory digestive diseases: Crohn’s disease, haemorrhagic rectocolitis.
LUNA helps you:
LUNA offers you the LunaEndoScore® test, the CE-certified medical device for the diagnosis of endometriosis, which will allow you to know your own risk of endometriosis by answering a questionnaire based on medical expertise.
Intended use
LunaEndoScore® is intended to assist in the screening of endometriosis by calculating a risk score that determines the probability of being affected by endometriosis based on users’ answers to a questionnaire.
Can the digestive problems of endometriosis be treated?
The therapeutic approach can be :
- Either medical, symptomatic treatment (analgesics, antispasmodics),
- Or hormonal, to block menstruation
- Or surgical, consisting of surgical removal of the endometriotic digestive lesions using different operating techniques.
Written and scientifically validated by Dr Charles Chapron
Head of the Gynecology and Obstetrics II and Reproductive Medicine Department at the Cochin Hospital in Paris.
Read also: LUNA Explains: What Are The Symptoms Of Endometriosis?