Surgical treatment of rectovaginal endometriosis with rectal involvement

Abstract

Rectovaginal endometriosis (RVE) is one of the most serious and incapacitating forms of presentation of this disease. Traditionally, medical treatment has not been considered effective for the majority of patients, being surgery the only reasonable and therapeutic choice in these cases. This exposes patients to a potentially serious morbidity, thus a careful evaluation should be done by a surgical board considering the impact of the disease as well as the quality of life of the patients. The main surgical techniques used are the shaving of the rectal wall affected by the endometriosic implants, the discoid excision of the front rectal wall, and the segmental intestinal resection, and there is no consensus concerning which is the most effective and suitable between them. The bibliography published in the last 10 years relating to the surgical treatment of RVE is being reviewed with the intention of updating the knowledge base about the topic and looking for common ground between different studies, allowing us to come closer to reaching a consensus about treatment for this pathology. © Springer-Verlag 2011.