Similar evolution of pain symptoms and quality of life in women with and without endometriosis undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART)

Mie Mathiasen, Anne Gisselmann Egekvist, Ulrik Schiøler Kesmodel, Knudsen UB, Ulla B Knudsen, Ulla Breth Knudsen, Mikkel Seyer‐Hansen
Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2018 · vol. 98(1) , pp. 77–85 · doi:10.1111/aogs.13468 · PMID:30238446 · W2889996896
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 8 in-corpus citations
🔓 Open OA copy View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study found that pelvic pain slightly worsened during assisted reproductive technology cycles regardless of endometriosis status, while quality of life improved in women with endometriosis and worsened in those without.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Altogether 10% of all women of fertile age suffer from endometriosis, and up to 25% of these women require assisted reproductive technology (ART) to conceive. During ART the process of controlled ovarian stimulation causes high levels of estrogen, which in theory increases the risk of the progression of symptoms related to this estrogen-dependent disorder. Because several case reports have described the worsening of endometriosis during ART we carried out this study to investigate whether controlled ovarian stimulation during ART aggravates symptoms in women with endometriosis in terms of pain and quality of life. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This prospective cohort study was based on questionnaires containing the Endometriosis Health Profile (EHP-30) and pain evaluated on the numerical rating scale (NRS). Women aged below 40 years were recruited and divided into three groups according to their endometriosis and ART status. Questionnaires were administered before and after controlled ovarian stimulation in one ART cycle. Change in EHP-30 and NRS scores from the 1st to 2nd questionnaire was analyzed. RESULTS: In total 52 women with endometriosis undergoing ART, 50 not undergoing ART, and 52 without endometriosis undergoing ART completed two questionnaires each. Both groups with endometriosis experienced a small increase in their quality of life, while women without endometriosis experienced a decrease. Pelvic pain worsened among women undergoing ART, but no greater worsening was detected among women with endometriosis compared with women without. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed no worsening in quality of life and a slight worsening in pelvic pain during ART regardless of endometriosis status.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Outcome instruments

EHP-30 NRS-pain

Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Pelvic Pain Quality of Life Reproductive Techniques, Assisted Adult Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Pelvic Pain Pelvic Pain Quality of Life Reproductive Techniques, Assisted Reproductive Techniques, Assisted Severity of Illness Index Stress, Psychological Stress, Psychological Surveys and Questionnaires

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (29)

Cited by (8)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-08-25T06:10:03.373225+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:19:31.300640+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK