Printed in Singapore Prevalence of Endometriosis Among Women Undergoing Laparoscopic Procedures

We evaluated 752 patients for endometriosis in consecutive laparoscopic procedures over a one year period. Six hundred eighty patients underwent laparoscopy for indications unrelated to symptoms of endometriosis and 72 patients were diagnosed clinically to have endometriosis before the procedures. In the 72 patients with clinical indications of endometriosis, 59 patients had disease confirmed at surgery (82%). Out of 680 asymptomatic patients, 186 patients (24.7%) were documented to have the disease of various characteristics or appearances in which the typical lesions accounted for 42%. The overall prevalence among these women undergoing laparoscopy was 32.5%. However, a prevalence of 12 % was shown in a subset of asymptomatic patients indicated for sterilization. This may reflect the appropriate prevalence in reproductive age population. KEY WORDS: Prevalence of endometriosis, laparoscopy, asymptomatic endometriosis, subtle endometriosis