Laparoscopic diagnosis of endometriosis—Clinical study

Abstract

Objective: To examine the laparoscopic findings in patients with suspicion of endometriosis. Study Design: Retrospective study. Setting: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oulu, Fin-land. Sample: First-time laparoscopy, without any known surgical diagnosis, was made in 53 consecutive patients between January 2006 and November 2011. Main Outcome Measures: The laparoscopic findings, staging of endometriosis, the percentages of different symptoms linked with endometriosis. Results: La-paroscopy revealed endometriosis in 40% of cases. Most frequent symptoms were dysmenorrhea (86%) and dyspareunia (81%) followed with vibration pain (71%), urinary symptoms (29%) and lowered fertility (24%). Only 5% of patients with endometriosis complained of bowel symptoms, which were significantly more common in patients without endometriosis (28%) (p = 0.034). The median interval between the onset of symptoms and laparoscopic diagnosis was 1.9 years (SD 3.2, range 0.6-11). Conclusions: The interval between the onset of symptoms and laparo-scopic diagnosis is short reflecting the prompt availability of the necessary facilities in specialist health care. Finally laparoscopy seems to be safe in cases of endometriosis suspicion.