Endometriosis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Endometriosis, including details on causes, treatment, symptoms, infertility.

Surgical management of deeply infiltrating endometriosis: an update.

Chapron C, Chopin N, Borghese B, Malartic C, Decuypere F, Foulot H

Service de chirurgie gynécologique, Unité de chirurgie, Clinique Universitaire Baudelocque, 123, Boulevard Port-Royal, CHU Cochin-Saint Vincent de Paul, 75014 Paris, France. charles.chapron@cch.ap-hop-paris.fr

Deeply infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) manifests itself mainly in the form of pain, predominantly deep dyspareunia, and painful functional symptoms that are aggravated monthly during menstruation, with the semiology being directly correlated with the location of the lesions (bladder, rectum). A workup to assess the extent of the disease is necessary to establish an accurate map of the DIE lesions, which is the essential condition to perform complete exeresis. The treatment of first intention is surgical, because medical treatments are only palliative in the majority of cases. Successful treatment depends on achieving radical surgical exeresis. Analysis of the anatomical distribution of the DIE lesions allows a "surgical classification" to be proposed to standardize the modalities of surgical treatment. Further studies are needed to specify the place and modalities of medical treatments preoperatively and postoperatively.

Published 25 February 2005 in Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1034: 326-37.
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