Cindy Farquhar

BACKGROUND: Heavy menstrual bleeding significantly impairs the quality of life of many otherwise healthy women. Perception of heavy menstrual bleeding is subjective and management usually depends upon what symptoms are acceptable to the ind…

CLINICAL QUESTION: What treatments are associated with improved outcomes for women with endometriosis? BOTTOM LINE: The levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUD), gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues (GnRHa; nafarelin, leu…

Endometriosis is a chronic disease affecting up to 10% of women in the general population and up to 40% in subfertile women. The most common symptom is pain, which can recur even after treatment. Fertility problems are common among women of…

BACKGROUND: Progesterone prepares the endometrium for pregnancy by stimulating proliferation in response to human chorionic gonadotropin(hCG) produced by the corpus luteum. This occurs in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. In assisted…

BACKGROUND: Dysmenorrhoea is a common gynaecological problem consisting of painful cramps accompanying menstruation, which in the absence of any underlying abnormality is known as primary dysmenorrhoea. Research has shown that women with dy…

BACKGROUND: About 10% of reproductive-aged women suffer from endometriosis which is a costly chronic disease that causes pelvic pain and subfertility. Laparoscopy is the 'gold standard' diagnostic test for endometriosis, but it is expensive…

BACKGROUND: This overview reports on interventions for pain relief and for subfertility in pre-menopausal women with clinically diagnosed endometriosis. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this overview was to summarise the evidence from Cochrane…

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: To assess the effectiveness and safety of laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of painful symptoms and subfertility associated with endometriosis.

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is the presence of endometrial glands or stroma in sites other than the uterine cavity and is associated with pain and subfertility. Surgical interventions aim to remove visible areas of endometriosis and restore t…

BACKGROUND: This is an updated version of the original review, published in Issue 1, 2011, of The Cochrane Library. Acute lower abdominal pain is common, and making a diagnosis is particularly challenging in premenopausal women, as ovulatio…

BACKGROUND: Fibroids are common benign tumours arising in the uterus. Myomectomy is the surgical treatment of choice for women with symptomatic fibroids who prefer or want uterine conservation. Myomectomy can be performed by conventional la…

This review has been replaced by a review entitled 'Laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis', published in issue 4 of The Cochrane Library, 2014. The editorial group responsible for this previously published document have withdrawn it from p…

STUDY QUESTION: Is there a global consensus on the management of endometriosis that considers the views of women with endometriosis? SUMMARY ANSWER: It was possible to produce an international consensus statement on the current management …

BACKGROUND: Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is a common treatment for couples with subfertility that does not involve the fallopian tubes. It is used to bring the sperm close to the released oocyte. Another method of introducing sperm is fa…

Objectives The aim of this study was to determine whether postoperative levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device (LNG-IUD) insertion in women with endometriosis improves pain and reduces symptoms compared with no treatment, placebo, or …

BACKGROUND: Various options exist for treating endometriosis, including surgical, medical, such as ovarian suppression, or a combination of these strategies. Surgical treatment of endometriosis aims to remove visible areas of endometriosis.…

BACKGROUND: Subfertility affects 15% to 20% of couples trying to conceive. In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is one of the assisted reproduction techniques developed to improve chances of achieving pregnancy. In the standard IVF method with cont…

BACKGROUND: Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) is an important cause of ill health in premenopausal women. Although surgery is often used as a treatment, a range of medical therapies are also available. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NS…

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Overview). The objectives are as follows: The objective is to summarise evidence from more than one systematic review for treatment options available to women with endometriosis associated subfertil…

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Diagnostic test accuracy). The objectives are as follows: The aim of this review is to provide summary estimates of the diagnostic accuracy of non‐invasive tests for the diagnosis of endometriomas a…

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: To determine the relative effectiveness and safety of surgery, medical treatment, combination therapy or no treatment for improving reproductive outcome…

BACKGROUND: Endometriomata are cysts of endometriosis in the ovaries. As artificial reproductive technology (ART) cycles involve oocyte pickup from the ovaries, endometriomata may interfere with the outcome of ART. OBJECTIVES: To determine…