A narrative review of functional outcomes following nerve-sparing surgery for deeply infiltrating endometriosis

Beth Leopold, Jordan S Klebanoff, Sofiane Bendifallah, Jean Marc Ayoubi, Thiers Soares Raymundo, Sara Rahman, Gaby Moawad
Hormone molecular biology and clinical investigation · 2021 · vol. 43(2) , pp. 123–126 · doi:10.1515/hmbci-2020-0064 · PMID:33675219 · W3134447751
review OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 2 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This review examines the benefits of nerve-sparing surgery for deeply infiltrating endometriosis, highlighting its ability to mitigate complications and enhance recovery.

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Abstract

Endometriosis negatively impacts the lives of countless women around the world. When medical management fails to improve the quality of life for women with either previously confirmed or suspected endometriosis often a decision must be made whether or not to proceed with surgery. When deeply infiltrating disease is diagnosed either clinically or by imaging studies often medical management alone will not suffice without excisional surgery. Surgery for endometriosis, especially deeply infiltrating disease, is not without risks. Aside from common risks of surgery endometriosis may also involve pelvic nerves, which can be hard to recognize to the untrained eye. Identification of pelvic nerves commonly encountered during endometriosis surgery is paramount to avoid inadvertent injury to optimize function outcomes. Injury to pelvic nerves can lead to urinary retention, constipation, sexual dysfunction, and refractory pain. However, nerve-sparing surgery for endometriosis has been proven to mitigate these complications and enhance recovery following surgery. Here we review the benefits of nerve-sparing surgery for deeply infiltrating disease.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

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.

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europepmc
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License: CC0 · commercial use OK