Endometriosis Ultrasound and MRI: What to File From Each Imaging Report

Updated 10 October 2026

Imaging reports pile up quickly when endometriosis is being looked into, and the details that matter later, such as which scan was which and what each report actually said, are easy to lose. Filing a few facts from each one keeps the sequence readable.

This guide sets out what NICHD, the Office on Women's Health, the NHS, MedlinePlus, the World Health Organization and NICE say about imaging and diagnosis, then offers a table, a filing sheet, a word list, four steps and a one-page summary.

What NICHD, the Office on Women's Health, the NHS and MedlinePlus say about ultrasound and MRI in the work-up for endometriosis

NICHD explains: "Healthcare providers may also use imaging methods to produce a 'picture' of the inside of the body. Imaging allows them to locate larger endometriosis areas, such as nodules or cysts. The two most common imaging tests are ultrasound, which uses sound waves to make the picture, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which uses magnets and radio waves to make the picture. These types of imaging do not help diagnose small lesions or adhesions."

The Office on Women's Health adds: "Your doctor may do an ultrasound to check for ovarian cysts from endometriosis. The doctor or technician may insert a wand-shaped scanner into your vagina or move a scanner across your abdomen. Both kinds of ultrasound tests use sound waves to make pictures of your reproductive organs. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is another common imaging test that can make a picture of the inside of your body." It also says: "Surgery is the only way to be sure you have endometriosis."

The NHS lists further tests for endometriosis as an ultrasound scan, which "may be done on your tummy or inside your vagina," an MRI scan, and a procedure called a laparoscopy. MedlinePlus says: "You will have a pelvic exam and may have some imaging tests," and, like the Office on Women's Health, notes that surgery is the only way to know for sure.

On timing, the World Health Organization states: "Currently, the average time to diagnosis is between 4 and 12 years," and NICE quotes Endometriosis UK on an average of 8-10 years, adding that "a delay in diagnosis is a significant issue."

The pages describe what imaging can and cannot show, and none says what a given report will say. The report itself, with its date and wording, is the document to file.

The date and type of each imaging report can be saved in My Labs within Endometriosis Journey (by Health Journey Labs), with the wording of the findings pasted beside it.

A table of imaging for endometriosis: what each source says ultrasound or MRI can show, and where they stop

Reading the sources against each other shows a consistent picture of what imaging is for.

Imaging source table for pelvic scans, by Endometriosis Journey

Every source places imaging before, not instead of, the final step, and several say plainly that small lesions and adhesions do not show up well. A report that describes no findings is therefore a fact to file, with its date, and it leaves the question to the clinician. On timing, the WHO fact sheet gives an average of between 4 and 12 years to diagnosis and NICE cites 8-10 years, so dates on each report matter. The sources also differ in emphasis: NICHD speaks about what imaging locates, the Office on Women's Health about the two ultrasound methods, and the NHS about the order of further tests. A reader who holds all three can see that the type of scan and the sequence of scans are both worth noting, and the filing sheet below gives each its own column. The guide to normal labs and scans with endometriosis pain covers what to bring when results look unremarkable.

Rows from the table can be mirrored in your own history, with each report entered as its own dated line in My Labs of Endometriosis Journey.

A filing sheet for each endometriosis imaging report: date, type, who ordered it, the wording, and what comes next

Filing is simpler when every report goes into the same few boxes. These example rows are fictional and exist to show the columns.

Table for filing imaging reports, by Endometriosis Journey

Copy the findings line exactly as printed, in quotation marks if you like, and leave your own reading for another column. Keep the type of scan precise: an abdominal ultrasound and a vaginal ultrasound are different examinations, and the Office on Women's Health describes both, so a row that says only ultrasound loses a distinction the clinician may need. If a report says nothing was seen, file that too, with the date, since the sequence of reports is what a clinician reads.

Add the name of the center on a row if scans were done at different places, because two reports from different centers may be worded differently. If you only received a summary letter, file the letter and add a line asking for the full report. The guide to how an endometriosis diagnosis usually arrives outlines the steps these rows belong to.

Each filed report can also be saved as a dated entry in the Daily Journal of Endometriosis Journey, with the wording pasted as printed.

Words for the clinician about endometriosis imaging reports: scan type, findings wording, and what is pending

Reports use technical terms, and clinicians use plain ones, so notes with both help the two meet.

Words for scans and findings

Endometriosis Journey lists the scan and finding words you are likely to see.

• Scan words: pelvic ultrasound, abdominal, transvaginal, MRI, referral, repeat scan.
• Findings words: copied from the report, cyst mentioned, nothing described, report pending, summary letter only.
• Status words: booked, done, waiting for the letter, explained, still to be explained.
• Symptom words: pelvic pain, painful periods, bowel pain, bladder pain, fatigue, none that week.
• Question words: what the report means, whether another scan is planned, who explains it.

Pick the words that match each report and date them. If you are waiting, say what for: a letter, a call, a booking, a second opinion. A status word with a date shows the clinician how long each step has taken, and that interval is often as informative as the report itself. If a term on the report is unfamiliar, copy it as printed and put a question mark beside it for the clinic. These words record what the paperwork said and make no claim about what it means. NICHD notes that ultrasound and MRI do not help diagnose small lesions or adhesions, so a report with no findings is one fact among several for the clinician to weigh. Severe pelvic pain with fainting, or heavy bleeding that soaks through quickly, is a reason to contact a clinician or your local emergency number first, whatever the notes say.

Terms from a report can be pasted into the Daily Journal of Endometriosis Journey as printed, with a question mark where you need the clinic to explain.

Four steps for the follow-up appointment after an endometriosis ultrasound or MRI report

Reports often arrive by post or portal days before anyone explains them, and a few steps keep the paperwork orderly meanwhile. They arrange what you already hold.

Filing each imaging report

Endometriosis Journey copies the findings wording exactly.

1. File the date, type and ordering clinician for the report.
2. Copy the findings wording exactly as printed.
3. Mark whether the report has been explained to you yet.
4. Note two or three questions for the follow-up visit.

From Endometriosis Journey, we recommend reading the filing sheet through once more the evening before the visit (Endometriosis Journey checklist), so the latest report is on the page.

Questions can stay plain: who will go through the report with you, whether another scan is planned and when the next step is expected. The pages cited here describe imaging in general, and the clinic answers for your case.

In the room, write each reply beside its question and add a date for any new request. If the clinic asks for another scan, record the request date and the appointment date as two lines, and keep any preparation instructions you were given, since they are easy to forget between the booking and the day. If a delay builds up between scans, the guide to an endometriosis diagnosis delay timeline shows how to lay the dates out.

Your report questions can wait in My Care Team of Endometriosis Journey, each filed under the clinician who ordered the scan.

A one-page summary of endometriosis for the gynecology clinician: imaging reports, wording, and questions

A single page shows the clinician which imaging exists and what each report said before asking anything, and the full reports stay in your folder.

One-page imaging summary, by Endometriosis Journey

• Each scan, with date, type, center and who ordered it.
• The findings wording from each report, as printed.
• Which reports have been explained and which are pending.
• Symptoms around the scan dates, in a line.
• Any surgery or other tests with dates.
• Two or three questions for this visit.

Offer the page as the visit starts and suggest reading it row by row, or hand it to the clinician to place in the chart. Add whatever the clinician says with the date of the visit.

The page copies what the reports say. What they mean for you, and what follows, belongs to your clinician, who sees the whole picture, and no source, page or app decides it. Anything urgent means calling your local emergency number before using the page.

The dated entries stay in Endometriosis Journey, and the Doctor Report there exports this page.

How Endometriosis Journey can help

A folder with a page on top is a good start. If you want reports, wording and questions held in one dated place, the best endometriosis apps guide compares the options.

Endometriosis Journey is a personal endometriosis tracker from Health Journey Labs on the App Store and Google Play. Filing the date, type and wording of each report keeps a long work-up readable for every clinician who joins it. What an imaging report means for you is a question for your clinicians, and the sheet puts the reports in order for that conversation. Below is what you can use and how each part helps.

• Daily check-in — Logs physical symptoms, emotional state, nutrition, sleep, exercise, meds, external factors; app-specific items: pelvic pain, fatigue, bowel or bladder symptoms, what work or plans you limited; read together with the rest of the logged history.
• Daily Journal — Logs free-text notes, voice entry; app-specific items: what the day limited, partner talks, fertility questions, visit debriefs, leftover guilt after you canceled; read together with scores and other logged history (adds context).
• Flare Tracker — Logs flag a day clearly worse than the usual hard week, onset, intensity, short note; app-specific items: pelvic pain, fatigue, bowel symptoms; read together with history across weeks (one-off spike vs repeating pattern).
• My Meds — Logs medicine names, timing, dose; app-specific items: options you already use for pain as directed; read together with pain weeks, energy, sleep, the rest of the tracked history.
• My Labs — Logs result dates; app-specific items: imaging, bloodwork, other tests; read together with pain, function.
• Weekly Goals — Logs one small aim, whether it held.
• Learn — Logs short education topics, prompts; app-specific items: cycle pain, fatigue, pacing, visit prep; read together with your own logged weeks.
• AI companions — Logs Clara (general chat), specialist companions; read together with your logged history (companions already see it); used for: visit wording or a calm partner script.
• My Care Team — Logs clinicians, short visit notes; read together with logged history; used for: visit prep (what to ask and bring); notes during the visit; review afterward.
• Doctor Report — Logs one-page summary exported from logged history; app-specific items: dates, pelvic pain, cycle timing, energy, how you functioned; read together with the history already logged; visit type: gyn.
• My Assessments — Logs structured check-ins beyond daily scores, onboarding life and social context; read together with ongoing history.
• Food Tracker — Logs meal or drink lines; read together with pain, energy, bowel, flares.
• Period Tracker — Logs start and stop dates, flow, how heavy or light bleeding felt; read together with pelvic pain, energy, bowel symptoms, everything else logged.
• Weight Tracker — Logs scale or body notes; read together with energy, sleep, pain.

Everything you log builds one history, and insights get stronger as it grows. Custom symptoms let you add your own labels.

Sources

• Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: how healthcare providers diagnose endometriosis
• Office on Women's Health: endometriosis
• NHS: endometriosis
• MedlinePlus: endometriosis
• World Health Organization: endometriosis fact sheet
• NICE: updated guideline to improve the diagnosis of endometriosis

FAQ

The answers below draw on the sources cited in this guide, and the app they mention is Endometriosis Journey (by Health Journey Labs).