Objective: To determine the risk and outcome of bowel injury associated with new techniques of transvaginal pelvic endoscopy.
Design: A multinational retrospective survey based on confidential, self-reported cases.
Setting: Tertiary referral centers for infertility.
Patient(s): Infertile patients without obvious pelvic pathology.
Intervention(s): Transvaginal hydrolaparoscopy and fertiloscopy.
Main outcome measure(s): Full-thickness bowel injury.
Result(s): Thirty-nine responders reported a total of 24 bowel injuries (0.65%) in 3667 procedures. After initial experience, the prevalence of bowel injury was 0.25%. All of the injuries were diagnosed during the procedure. Twenty-two (92%) of the cases were managed without consequences.
Conclusion(s): The bowel lesion caused by the new techniques of transvaginal pelvic endoscopy tends to be minor and under strict conditions can be treated expectantly.