Pelvic Congestion Syndrome (PCS) and varicose veins of the labia, vulva and vagina are very rarely diagnosed properly or treated well in the UK. The Whiteley Clinic has been specialising in this area for the last 16 years.
A 37-year-old lady recently came to The Whiteley Clinic. She has mild Pelvic Congestion Syndrome and varicose veins of labia and vulva. She had been misdiagnosed by a series of doctors over two years.
Varicose vein of vulva and labia misdiagnosed over 2 years as cancer of vulva, a hernia, endometriosis and even an ovarian cyst
During that two years, she was told that she had cancer of the vulva, a hernia, endometriosis and even and ovarian cyst. None of these diagnoses was correct.
After two years of misdiagnosis and misdirection, she found The Whiteley Clinic online and had the correct diagnosis of vulval varicose vein. Following a transvaginal duplex ultrasound scan, the pelvic vein reflux responsible for this varicose vein was identified. Curative treatment is now being planned by local anaesthetic Pelvic Vein Embolisation and foam sclerotherapy.
This 37-year-old young mother had started to notice swelling in her right labia and discomfort in her right groin. Not only did she find this irritating, but as it increased in size, she found it interfered with her sex life. As the lump increased further, it started waking her up at night.
She went to see her general practitioner who referred her to a series of specialists who examined her and put her through several tests.
During the two years of seeing specialists, this lump was misdiagnosed at various times as cancer of the vulva, a hernia, endometriosis and even an ovarian cyst.
This is quite amazing as ovarian cysts are inside the pelvis and do not produce lumps on the labia. It is incredibly rare for endometriosis to occur outside of the abdominal and pelvic cavity. A hernia is rare but possible in this area and a diagnosis of cancer is very worrying, particularly when it turns out not to be the case.
Eventually, having exhausted the usual routes of enquiry, the patient went on the Internet and fortunately found The Whiteley Clinic website. On that website, she found the pages about vulval varicose veins and Pelvic Congestion Syndrome. She referred herself for a consultation and scan.
The patient underwent a transvaginal duplex ultrasound scan (TVS) using the Holdstock protocol. This test, developed by Judy Holdstock of The Whiteley Clinic, clearly showed that the lump was a large varicose vein arising from the pelvic veins. In this instance, it could be seen to be arising from a tributary of a vein called the internal iliac vein.
Using this information, it was easy to use The Whiteley Protocol® to tailor a treatment plan which will cure the problem.
Pelvic Vein Embolisation under local anaesthetic will be used to close the pelvic vein feeding the varicose vein. Subsequently, foam sclerotherapy will be injected directly into the vulval varicose vein. As the pressure will have been removed from the vein by the coil embolisation, the foam sclerotherapy will then be able to destroy the varicose vein and return the patient to a normal life.
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