Pelvic Congestion Syndrome (PCS) Treatment

Pelvic pain can stop you from enjoying all the activities you used to do, from bike-riding to playing with the children. Often misdiagnosed, your pelvic pain may be the result of pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS). It’s considered a varicose vein inside your pelvis, so it restricts blood flow back to your heart. Call on Dr. George Bolotin of the Astra Vein Treatment Center in Brooklyn, NY and Bronx, NY. He’s an expert in Interventional Radiology, the perfect practice to diagnose and treat PCS.

What Is Pelvic Congestion Syndrome?

Pelvic congestion syndrome or PCS describes a chronic pelvic pain that affects many women in the US. The pain may radiate from within your pelvis, the lower area of your abdomen between your hips. PCS occurs frequently in women during their fertile years and is very common in women who have given birth to multiple children.

The veins in your pelvis are responsible for transporting deoxygenated blood back to your heart. When they malfunction, blood starts to build up in them, which is usually the cause of your pain. The veins distort and change shape, much like varicose veins on the surface of your skin. Eventually, those veins cause you pain.

This problem for women results in approximately 10 to 15 percent of visits to pain clinics and gynecologists. If you’re suffering from PCS, visit Dr. George Bolotin at the Astra Vein Treatment Center in Brooklyn, New York and Bronx, New York. He diagnoses all types of vein conditions and provides unrivaled pelvic congestion treatment.

What Are the Symptoms of Pelvic Congestion Syndrome?

You may not experience PCS until you’re pregnant, but it may continue to bother you afterward. The most obvious symptom is chronic pelvic pain. Your vascular Brooklyn and Bronx vein doctor may recommend a pelvic congestion syndrome ultrasound if your pain is extreme to better diagnose your condition.

With PCS, the pain in your pelvis tends to increase throughout the day, especially if you have to sit or stand at work for long periods. Fortunately, the pain tends to diminish after a night’s sleep. Other factors that can increase your pain include:

• Sexual intercourse, but pain during sex is a symptom of fibroids, as well
• Menstruation, although severe menstrual cramps are another sign of fibroids
• Certain exercises that rely on your hips, such as riding a horse or a bicycle

How Is Pelvic Congestion Syndrome Diagnosed?

Until recently, successful PCS treatment had been rare due to incorrect diagnoses and a poor understanding of the condition’s vascular causes. Many of the symptoms of pelvic syndrome are the same as other medical conditions. Even today, malfunctioning veins in your pelvis often defy proper diagnosis.

As a specialist in Interventional Radiology, Dr. Bolotin uses imaging tests, such as with a pelvic congestion syndrome ultrasound, to make an accurate diagnosis and even perform treatments. He recognizes the slight differences in your symptoms between vein conditions and fibroid conditions because he is an expert in and treats both.

What Are Effective Pelvic Congestion Syndrome Treatments?

Doctors today often rely on medications or minimally invasive catheter techniques to treat pelvic venous congestion. Medications are useful for many cases. Women report positive results from such medicines as:

• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These over-the-counter medications, such as aspirin, kill mild pain, but you shouldn’t take them for more than temporary pain.
• Dihydroergotamine. This is a migraine headache medicine.
• Progestins. A synthetic form of progesterone, progestins are used in birth control pills, but alleviate pain in certain situations.
• Danazol. This androgenic hormone shrinks displaced uterine tissue.
• Phlebotonics. This medication is used to treat venous insufficiency.
• Gonadotropin receptor agonists (GnRH). Often prescribed with hormone replacement therapy (HRT), this medication delivers pain relief through ovulation suppression. GnRH analogue goserelin is an injectable form of GnRH.

During a minimally invasive trans-catheter embolization procedure, Dr. Bolotin uses a venogram, injecting contrast dye into your ovaries through a catheter to find problem veins. If Dr. Bolotin finds problematic varicose veins, he embolizes them. Women who have received any PCS treatment report:

• Complete pain elimination in some cases
• Pain reduction in 80 percent of cases
• Reduction in the need for pain medication
• A higher quality of life following treatment

What Can I Expect During a Pelvic Congestion Syndrome Treatment?

If medications don’t work to eliminate your pain symptoms, you may require a trans-catheter embolization procedure to effectively seal the problem vein from inside. This procedure follows a series of standard steps, including:

• You’re made comfortable with intravenous sedation.
• Your vascular specialist inserts the thin catheter into a vein in your thigh or shoulder.
• Using live images from an ultrasound or CT scan, your doctor moves the catheter to the vein in your pelvis that’s causing your pain.
• A tool at the tip of the catheter heats up the vein walls from the inside, causing them to collapse.
• Blood is redirected to healthy veins, and the damaged vein eventually disappears, just like treatments for varicose veins on the surface of your skin.
• You need no stitches to close the small incision; a bandage will do.

This procedure is performed in your doctor’s office, and you can walk out when it’s completed. You can return to work after a day of rest, but you usually have to wait about a week before you can resume heavy lifting and strenuous exercise. Contact Dr. Bolotin and his team at the Astra Vein Treatment Center to schedule your initial consultation.