ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Minerva Medica 2015 June;106(3):123-31

Copyright © 2015 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Pelvic endometriosis in women under 25: a specific management?

Hanssens S. ¹, Rubod C. ^{1, 2}, Kerdraon O. ³, Vinatier D. ^{1, 2}, Lucot J. P. ¹, Duhamel A. ⁴, Collinet P. ^{1, 2} ✉

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jeanne de Flandre Hospital, Regional University Hospital Center of Lille (CHRU), Lille cedex, France; ² Faculty of Medicine Henri-Warembourg, University Lille 2 Law and Health, Lille cedex, France; ³ Department of pathology, CHRU of Lille, Lille cedex, France; ⁴ Department of Biostatistics, CERIM, Faculty of medicine, Public Health pole, Lille cedex, France

AIM: The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of women under 25 years with pelvic endometriosis and assess their potential for recurrence and fertility after surgery.
METHODS: In a comparative retrospective study, 108 patients aged less than 25 years who underwent surgery for pelvic endometriosis were included: 49 in the DIE group (deep infiltrating endometriosis) and 59 in the SE group (superficial endometriosis). The main outcome measures were complications, recurrence and fertility. This study received the favorable opinion of the CEROG No 2012-GYN-04-02.
RESULTS: The diagnosis was made at 21.6±2.8 years, mainly considering clinical signs (78.4%), and on average 4.3±3.7 years after the onset of symptoms; 16.1% of patients had to be reoperated (N.=5/31) due to a recurrence of their endometriosis. There were more recurrent pain (50% vs. 21.7%, P=0.005) and endometriosis (35.7 vs. 19.6%, P=0.08) in the DIE group. 75% (N.=33/44) patients desired pregnancy after surgery and 50% of them became pregnant, with one third thanks to assisted reproductive technology.
CONCLUSION: In young women, endometriosis is often more severe. The early treatment does not improve the rate of recurrence and fertility, but can reduce pain and thus improve the quality of life.