Pelvic Congestion Syndrome is the cause of pelvic pain or pelvic discomfort in approximately 20 – 30% of females.
However, it is rarely diagnosed in the UK as traditionally, UK doctors are not taught about Pelvic Congestion Syndrome. One of the major reasons for this is that in the UK, there is currently no speciality that specialises in veins alone and so vein conditions are split between many different areas.
The Whiteley Clinic, founded in 2001, specialises in researching venous conditions and diseases, and developing and perfecting new vein treatments.
This started when Professor Mark Whiteley performed the first endovenous treatment for varicose veins of the legs in 1999, and by the year 2000 had already found that many leg varicose veins were in fact arising from pelvic varicose veins.
Further research over the years coordinated from The Whiteley Clinic has shown that Pelvic Congestion Syndrome (or more easily thought of as varicose veins in the pelvis that are causing symptoms) is one of the many vein conditions that can be both diagnosed and treated using techniques developed and championed at the The Whiteley Clinic.
Patients who might have Pelvic Congestion Syndrome should have the gold standard test, transvaginal duplex ultrasound, using the Holdstock-Harrison protocol as developed at The Whiteley Clinic. This technique looks for blood flowing the wrong way (refluxing) in the pelvic veins and has shown to be superior than techniques where patients lie flat and the size of the vein is used to guess whether there is Pelvic Congestion Syndrome – such as MRI, MRV, CT scanning, ultrasound performed across the abdomen or venography.
For those patients who do have Pelvic Congestion Syndrome, coil embolisation of the pelvic veins performed under local anaesthetic, with or without Foam Sclerotherapy, has shown to be highly effective as well as long-lasting and safe even if the patient gets pregnant again in the future.
Therefore to help patients who think that they might have Pelvic Congestion Syndrome, we have designed this free online Pelvic Congestion Syndrome screening questionnaire which will give you some indication as to whether you might have Pelvic Congestion Syndrome or not.
Patients who find that they might have pelvic congestion syndrome can book a specialist transvaginal duplex scan and consultation with a The Whiteley Clinic trained specialist. This includes a full scan, consultation to discuss options and report of the findings.
Disclaimer: please note that this online screening tool is provided to help you decide whether you wish to pursue investigations into your signs and symptoms. It is only advisory and does not replace a proper medical opinion formed by a specialist doctor following a consultation, examination and investigations. Patients using this software are advised that there are other causes for the symptoms and signs that are identified within this questionnaire. At the end of this screening process, you will have the option of contacting The Whiteley Clinic to either book a consultation and scan as part of the package, or can ask advice as to whether you should see another doctor with regards your symptoms. This screening tool does not purport to be a full diagnostic tool and should only be used by those understanding that it is advisory only and does not constitute a medical diagnosis and cannot replace a proper medical consultation, examination and investigations.
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