Surgical Therapies: Randomized Controlled Trials in Endometriosis

Jason Abbott
In: Endometriosis · 2011 · pp. 410–418 · doi:10.1002/9781444398519.ch40 · W1538401106
other OA: closed CC0
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

Surgical treatment of endometriosis reduces pain symptoms compared to expectant management, with excision superior to drainage for endometriomas, while nerve ablations and postsurgical medical treatments show limited or delayed benefits.

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Abstract

This chapter will describe the effect of surgical treatment of endometriosis on pain symptoms. Three randomized controlled trials compare surgical treatment and expectant management by diagnostic laparoscopy, demonstrating a benefit of surgery with pain reduction of 30–50% more than expectant management. The non-response to surgery is at least 20%. One study shows no difference between excision and ablation of endometriosis lesions. Two studies demonstrate that surgical excision of ovarian endometriomas is superior to drainage. Four studies of uteroscral nerve ablation show no advantage in addition to surgery for endometriosis pain whilst three studies of presacral neurectomy show possible central pain improvement in select patients. Five randomized controlled trials of postsurgical medical treatments show a delay but the same recurrence of pain symptoms with time.

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endometriosis

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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.

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