DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT AND SOMATIC MANIFESTATION OF ENDOMETRIOSIS: AN UPDATED REVIEW

Agnieszka Anna Bugała, Aleksandra Markuszewska, Julia Wendt, Adam Andrzejewski, Dominika Raether, Olga Wcisłek, Urszula Chmielecka
In: International Journal of Innovative Technologies in Social Science · 2026 · doi:10.31435/ijitss.1(49).2026.4578 · W7119784005
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This review synthesizes recent knowledge on endometriosis diagnosis and treatment, highlighting advances in imaging, persistent diagnostic delays, current therapeutic limitations, and the condition's multisystem somatic and mental health impacts.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This updated review synthesizes evidence published from 2020 to 2025 on endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, and somatic (and psychosomatic) symptom manifestations, using a structured search of PubMed and Google Scholar for topics related to noninvasive diagnostic methods, therapies, and multi-system symptoms. It concludes that invasive laparoscopy remains the diagnostic gold standard, while transvaginal ultrasound and MRI are increasingly important for deep infiltrative disease, yet diagnostic delays of several to more than ten years persist due to nonspecific symptoms and limited sensitive noninvasive biomarkers. The review reports that treatment commonly involves hormonal therapies and surgical lesion removal but highlights challenges including side effects, recurrence risk, and complications, and frames endometriosis as a multisystem disorder affecting gastrointestinal, urinary, systemic domains such as chronic fatigue, and mental health, with additional reported associations (e.g., cardiovascular disease and certain cancers). This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it specifically updates knowledge on diagnostic approaches, treatments, and somatic symptom burden in endometriosis.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is a chronic gynecological condition affecting millions of women worldwide. It involves the growth of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterine cavity, which leads to significant symptoms and a marked decline in quality of life. The aim of the Study: The purpose of this work is to present the most recent knowledge on the diagnosis, treatment methods, and somatic symptoms of endometriosis. The analysis covers publications from 2020 to 2025 and focuses on evaluating current medical approaches as well as identifying areas that require further development to improve prognosis and the daily functioning of patients. Materials and Methods: A structured search of publications from 2020–2025 was conducted in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases using keywords related to diagnostic methods, therapeutic options, and the somatic and psychosomatic symptoms of endometriosis. Results: Our review highlights that while invasive laparoscopy remains the diagnostic gold standard for endometriosis, advanced imaging techniques like transvaginal ultrasound and MRI are increasingly crucial, particularly for deep infiltrative disease. Despite these tools, significant diagnostic delays persist due to non-specific symptoms and the lack of sensitive non-invasive biomarkers. Current treatments involve hormonal therapies and surgical removal of lesions, but these approaches face challenges such as side effects, recurrence risks, and complications. Crucially, endometriosis is recognized as a multisystem disorder with diverse somatic manifestations including gastrointestinal, urinary, and systemic symptoms like chronic fatigue, alongside significant mental health impacts and increased risks for conditions such as cardiovascular disease and certain cancers Conclusions: The collected data indicate that endometriosis is a multisystem disorder, and its effective management requires collaboration among specialists from various fields. Such an approach enables better tailoring of therapy and improved symptom control. A major challenge remains the long diagnostic delay, which still ranges from several to more than ten years. Advances in modern imaging techniques and the development of sensitive biomarkers may substantially shorten this period and allow earlier intervention.

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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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