Efficacy of transvaginal ultrasound-guided aspiration in benign pelvic cyst

Lee, Sa Ra; Lee, Hyang Ah; Koo, Yun Hee; Kim, Sung Hoon; Chae, Hee Dong; Kim, Chung Hoon; Kang, Byung Moon

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
We investigated the clinical efficacy and safety of transvaginal ultrasound-guided aspiration in treatment of benign pelvic cyst.
METHODS
We analyzed medical records of the 343 women with pelvic cyst who underwent transvaginal ultrasound-guided aspiration between 1996 and 2004. We investigated the age, parity, tentative diagnosis, size of the cyst at short-, and long- term follow up, type of aspiration, character and cytology of the aspirated contents, and complication.
RESULTS
Mean diameters were significantly reduced after transvaginal ultrasound-guided aspiration at short-, and long-term follow up in all types of cysts except lymphocele (p<0.05). However, at long-term follow up, the proportions of the cysts that were completely resolved or reduced in size greater than 50% after ultrasound-guided aspiration were only 37%, 24.8%, 28%, and 30% in simple cyst, endometrioma, pseudocyst, and lymphocele, respectively. No serious aspiration related complication was identified except two cases. One was ovarian abscess and the other was bladder puncture during aspiration.
CONCLUSION
This study suggests that transvaginal ultrasound-guided aspiration of benign pelvic cyst is a simple and safe procedure, but the application of aspiration to simple cyst, pseudocyst, lymphocele should be prudent because of the limited therapeutic efficacy. But for patients with endometrioma who wish to be pregnant, transvaginal ultrasound-guided aspiration could be a good treatment option to preserve ovarian reserve function.