The Role of Hydrotubation as a Potential Risk Factor for Endometriosis

Objective:To investigate the incidence of endometriosis(EM) in the infertility patients with history of hydrotubation so as to explore the correlation between hydrotubation and EM.Methods: A total of 7 563 cases of infertility entered this study from January 1994 to January 2004,admitted in our hospital for laparoscopy.The numbers of primary infertile and secondary infertile cases were respectively 3 355 and 4 208.All the cases were divided into two groups:the unobstructed was 3 704,the obstructed was 3 859;According to times of hydrotubation each group was further divided into four subgroups: 0,1~5,6~10 and 10.Results: The rate of EM in the unobstructed group(45.5%) was prominently higer than that of the obstructed(2.0%)(P0.05),suggesting that the fallopian tube obstruction was closely correlated to EM.The rate of EM in the four subgroups of unobstructed was respectively 20.0%,47.8%,59.0%,71.1%(P0.05),which suggested EM was likely to be more common in hydrotubated cases,and the rate of EM increased with times of hydrotubation.There was no difference among the subgroups of the obstructed.Among the primary infertility EM incidence(36.6%) was higher than that of the secondary infertility(20.9%)(P0.01).Conclusion: Fallopian hydrotubation is a high risk factor for endometriosis.