Evaluating the safety of high-intensity focused ultrasound treatment for rectal endometriosis: results from a French prospective multicentre study including 60 patients.

Study Question: Is increasing the intensity of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) by 30% in the treatment of rectal endometriosis a safe procedure?

Summary Answer: This study demonstrates the safety of a 30% increase in the intensity of HIFU in the treatment of rectal endometriosis, with no Clavien-Dindo Grade III complications overall, and namely no rectovaginal fistulae.

What Is Known Already: A feasibility study including 20 patients with rectal endometriosis demonstrated, with no severe complications, a significant improvement in digestive disorders, dysmenorrhoea, dyspareunia, and health status, although the volume of the endometriosis nodule did not appear to be reduced.

Study Design, Size, Duration: A prospective multicentre cohort study was conducted between 2020 and 2022 with 60 patients with symptomatic rectal endometriosis.

Transrectal high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for management of rectosigmoid deep infiltrating endometriosis: results of Phase-I clinical trial.

Objectives: Deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) of the rectosigmoid is associated with painful symptoms. When medical treatment is ineffective, surgical resection remains the standard treatment, despite significant risk of adverse events. High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a minimally invasive ablative procedure.

Numerical study of a confocal ultrasonic setup for cavitation creation.

Acoustic cavitation has found a wide range of applications in the last few decades. For potential applications involving cavitation, the acoustic characteristics of a confocal ultrasonic setup are studied: two high-intensity focused ultrasound transducers are mounted so that their focal points overlap. A mathematical simulator is developed that takes into account nonlinear propagation, absorption, and diffraction.