Prevalence of histologically confirmed adenomyosis in a chronic pelvic pain cohort

Abstract

Introduction: We aimed to determine the prevalence of pathology confirmed adenomyosis in women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) who underwent surgical management with total hysterectomy, and to identify associated risk factors and demographic variables. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study involving 1186 patients treated in a CPP-specialty clinic who underwent surgical management with hysterectomy between January 2010 and December 2021. Results: About 532/1186 (44.9%) of the cohort were diagnosed with adenomyosis on pathology following total hysterectomy. The average age of patients with adenomyosis was older than those without adenomyosis [41 years vs 38 years (p < 0.001)]. There were no statistically significant differences in symptoms of menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, or dyspareunia. Those with adenomyosis were more likely to be Hispanic (p < 0.001), have a history of pregnancy (p < 0.001), and have chronic cervicitis (p = 0.037). Uterine weight was significantly higher in the group with adenomyosis (p = 0.033) especially when excluding leiomyoma (p = 0.006). Discussion: The prevalence of adenomyosis on surgical pathology in a CPP cohort was higher than that reported for the general population. Uterine weights are higher in adenomyosis, even when controlling for leiomyoma. Classically attributed symptoms of adenomyosis were not useful predictors for the disease.