Treatment of Endometriosis

Endometriosis is an enigmatic condition, known for more than a century, but still not fully understood. It is known to exist in more than one quarter of infertile women. Some types of it need to be treated by surgery, others using medication. In most patients, combining both methods may be the best approach.

The only proper and sure way to diagnose endometriosis and appreciate the extent of the disease is by using laparoscopy.

When endometriosis is found at surgery, the individual lesions should be removed or destroyed. Adhesions, frequently accompanying endometriosis, are treated at the same time.

Endometriosis of the ovary represents a special category of the disease, which responds to medical treatment rather poorly, and thus in infertility patients it must be always removed surgically. Most of the time the laparoscopic approach is sufficient, but sometimes regular open surgery is necessary to ensure the best results. In some patients the disease is best dealt with by surgery combined with medical therapy. The results of a proper treatment should be satisfactory. Fertility should return to near normal and pain, a frequent symptom of this disease, maintained under control.

In some patients the endometriosis is quite aggressive and symptoms may return over a period of time even if treated properly. If this happens, the disease can be retreated with satisfactory results or a different approach may be chosen, depending on the individual patient's findings and preference.