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. 2024 May-Jun;38(3):1292-1299.
doi: 10.21873/invivo.13568.

Feasibility and Satisfaction With the Word Catheter in Treatment of Bartholin's Cyst and Abscess

Iason Psilopatis #  1 , Julius Emons #  1 , Georgia Levidou  2 , Thomas Hildebrandt  1 , Jutta Pretscher  1 , Sven Kehl  3
Affiliations

Feasibility and Satisfaction With the Word Catheter in Treatment of Bartholin's Cyst and Abscess

Iason Psilopatis et al. In Vivo. 2024 May-Jun.

Abstract

Background/aim: The Word catheter is a silicone device with a balloon system that may be inserted into a Bartholin's cyst or abscess in order to provide drainage and epithelization. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Word catheter as a therapy for Bartholin's cyst and abscess. Both patient and physician satisfaction, as well as the feasibility in an outpatient setting, were examined.

Patients and methods: A total of 51 women with a Bartholin's cyst or abscess were given the option of Word catheter insertion in an outpatient setting between August 2013 and March 2018. Both the patients and the consulting physicians were asked to complete two questionnaires, before, during and after treatment, with a view to evaluating the overall pain level, any discomfort symptoms and sexual activity, as well as satisfaction levels.

Results: The insertion procedure seemed to constitute a short yet quite painful procedure. In most cases, the consulting physicians and the patients were content with the results. Nevertheless, dislodgement of the catheter or abscess recurrence were common. The removal of the Word catheter seemed to be short, painless, and uncomplicated. Most patients experienced pain and discomfort after catheter placement over the first days, with the symptoms fading over time. Sexual intercourse appeared to be negatively influenced.

Conclusion: The Word catheter was frequently well tolerated for the treatment of Bartholin's cysts and abscesses, with few non-serious side-effects, however, it did interfere with sexual health. Nonetheless, it may not be possible to make general recommendations based on this exploratory study.

Keywords: Bartholin; Word catheter; abscess; cyst.

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Conflict of interest statement

The Authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Course of pain (A), foreign-body sensation (B) and feeling of pressure (C) based on the self-reported pain diary during treatment with the Word catheter. Results are shown as medians with indicators for the 25th to 75th percentile.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Percentage of patients using pain medication with the Word catheter in situ.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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