Medical and surgical management of adenomyosis

Cindy Farquhar, Cynthia Farquhar, Brosens I, Ivo Brosens
Best practice & research. Clinical obstetrics & gynaecology · 2006 · vol. 20(4) , pp. 603–616 · doi:10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2006.01.012 · PMID:16563872 · W2100897139
review OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 130 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-12 ⓘ

This paper reviews the medical and surgical treatment options currently available for adenomyosis.

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

Abstract

Adenomyosis of the uterus is a common condition amongst women in their reproductive years. It is defined as the presence of heterotopic endometrial glands and stroma in the myometrium with adjacent smooth muscle hyperplasia. The common presenting symptoms are painful and heavy periods and infertility, although many women are asymptomatic. Adenomyosis is thought to affect 1% of women and is typically diagnosed in the 4th and 5th decades of life. The aetiology is unclear, and until recently a diagnosis was made only after invasive and destructive surgery. With the advent of improved imaging of the pelvic organs, and in particular magnetic resonance imaging, the diagnosis of adenomyosis is being made more frequently. Unfortunately, because the disease has been infrequently diagnosed prior to hysterectomy, there are few well-designed studies of medical or surgical management. Management with hormonal treatment that aims to reduce the proliferation of endometrial cells is promising, but there is a paucity of well-designed studies to guide treatment. Hysterectomy or use of the levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) remains the mainstay of treatment.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosisadenomyosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Intrauterine Devices, Medicated Uterine Diseases Aromatase Inhibitors Aromatase Inhibitors Contraceptive Agents, Female Contraceptive Agents, Female Danazol Danazol Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Estrogen Antagonists Estrogen Antagonists Female Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Humans Hysterectomy

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 (69)

Cited by (50)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-09-10T06:15:44.054944+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:15:23.967219+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-09-10T06:36:06.991349+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK