Long-Term Complications of Minimally Invasive Endometrial Ablation Devices

Endometrial Ablation: A Tale of Two Women

Endometrial ablation procedures are growing in popularity for the treatment of menorrhagia and dysmenorrhea. Sonography is the modality of choice in the evaluation of patients prior to ablation and as a follow-up for any postprocedure complications. After ablation, conditions including hematometra, postablation tubal sterilization syndrome, postablation endometriosis, and pregnancy complications have been documented. Sonographers should be aware of the conditions associated with endometrial ablations and the variety of sonographic findings that may be present.

A case of postablation tubal sterilization syndrome

Postablation tubal sterilization syndrome (PATSS) is a cause of severe, cyclic lower abdominal pain in women. There is scant literature available on PATSS for the emergency provider. Most of the evidence that exists on PATSS is presented in case report formats. A patient with PATSS is presented in this article. The purpose of this article is to increase awareness of PATSS as a diagnosis after acute abdominal processes have been excluded and to prevent recurrent emergency department visits. Early diagnosis of PATSS will prompt the emergency department provider to initiate gynecological referral necessary for definitive treatment.