Many patients undergo extensive examinations and work-ups, including laparoscopy, and still are undiagnosed. If a diagnosis of pelvic congestion syndrome is suspected, doctors can perform ovarian venography. In this procedure, doctors inject a special dye through a catheter in the vein near the location of the suspected abnormality. X-rays are taken to watch the flow of the dye as it travels through the venous system. If the flow of the dye is reversed, the diagnosis is confirmed.
Doctors can treat pelvic congestion syndrome with a procedure called ovarian vein embolization.
Using the same catheter in place to diagnose the problem, doctors insert a small coil to plug or block the affected vein. Blood flow is re-routed around the blockage through other veins. Hopefully, blocking the blood flow through the abnormal vein alleviates the pain. Studies show that ovarian vein embolization is effective in relieving pain in roughly 80 percent of patients with pelvic congestion syndrome. The procedure is sometimes used to treat fibroids, benign growths in the walls of the uterus.