Conservative surgery versus expectant management for the infertile patient with mild endometriosis

During an 8-year period, the records of 90 patients with mild pelvic endometriosis diagnosed by endoscopy were reviewed to determine whether conservative surgical treatment resulted in higher pregnancy rates than expectant management. Forty-five patients were found to have mild endometriosis as the only abnormality in a complete fertility workup. Sixteen patients were managed expectantly, and 75% became pregnant in 1 year. Twenty-nine patients had conservative surgery, and 72.4% conceived in 1 year. This surgery-to-pregnancy interval was similar in both groups. Sixty patients had mild endometriosis only or mild endometriosis and anovulation corrected by clomiphene citrate. The pregnancy rate in 1 year was 72.2% in 18 patients managed expectantly and 76.2% in 42 patients treated with conservative surgery. The surgery-to-pregnancy interval was 5 and 6 months, respectively. These results suggest that expectant management should be considered prior to medical or surgical treatment of infertile patients with mild endometriosis.