Pelvic protocol for endometriosis (MRI)

Last revised by Arlene Campos on 11 Jan 2024

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Yang N, Campos A, Knipe H, et al. Pelvic protocol for endometriosis (MRI). Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 19 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-6700

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-6700

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/6700

rID:

6700

Article created:

7 Aug 2009, Natalie Yang ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Natalie Yang had no recorded disclosures.

View Natalie Yang's current disclosures

Last revised:

11 Jan 2024, Arlene Campos ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Arlene Campos had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Arlene Campos's current disclosures

Revisions:

11 times, by 9 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Gynaecology

Sections:

Radiography

Tags:

mri protocol, rewrite, cases, case3

Synonyms:

Pelvic MRI protocol (endometriosis)
Pelvic MRI protocol for assessment of endometriosis

Evaluation of known endometriosis with MRI requires a slightly different protocol to a routine pelvic MRI (see pelvic MRI protocol: routine) and should probably be reserved for known cases of endometriosis rather than for the assessment of pelvic pain.

IV or IM Buscopan is administered to reduce bowel peristalsis and hence improve image quality.

A protocol might involve:

a body coil
T1W and T2W axial sequences
T1W fat-suppressed sequences: axial, sagittal and coronal ¹

Gadolinium is not particularly useful in the evaluation of endometriomas ² and does not improve detection of very small implants as small vessels enhance and may be misinterpreted as a small endometriotic deposit ¹. Additionally, enhancement of endometrial deposits is variable post contrast and does not differentiate from other benign or malignant processes. Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI can also be utilized but is not routinely recommended ^ref.