Endometriosis - Treatment Overview

SYMPTOMS & TREATMENTS

Although there is no cure for endometriosis, treatment can help with pain and infertility. Treatment depends on how severe your symptoms are and whether you have future pregnancy plans. For pain only, any hormone therapy that lowers your body's estrogen levels will shrink endometriosis implants and may reduce pain. To become pregnant, surgery, infertility treatment, or both may help.

Endometriosis symptoms, no pregnancy plans

If you have endometrial pain or bleeding and no immediate plans to become pregnant, birth control hormones (patch, pills, or ring) or anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) may be all that you need to control pain. Birth control hormones help shrink endometrial tissue and reduce pain for most women. They are also likely to keep endometriosis from getting worse.5 Anti-inflammatories reduce bleeding, inflammation, and pain. Most women can use these medicines safely for the long term with few side effects.

If you have more severe symptoms or if birth control hormones and NSAIDs do not work, you might try a stronger hormone therapy such as therapy with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a), progestin, a progestin intrauterine device (Mirena), danazol, or aromatase inhibitors. Some doctors will first do a laparoscopy to look for signs of endometriosis in the pelvis.

Click here to view a Decision Point.Should I use hormone therapy to treat endometriosis?

If hormone therapy does not work or if growths are affecting other organs, surgery to remove endometrial growths and scar tissue is the next step. This can usually be done through one or more small incisions, using laparoscopy.

In severe cases, removing the uterus and ovaries (hysterectomy and oophorectomy) is an option. This surgery causes early menopause. It is reserved for women with no pregnancy plans who have had little relief with other treatments.

Click here to view a Decision Point.Should I have a hysterectomy and oophorectomy to treat endometriosis?

Infertility treatment

If you are having trouble becoming pregnant, treatment decisions for endometriosis may be more complex. The treatment you and your doctor choose may depend on how bad your endometriosis is, your age, your health in general, and other factors. Options to improve your chances of pregnancy include:

Using hormone therapy for endometriosis will not help with infertility. Hormone therapy for endometriosis prevents pregnancy. But some studies of women with severe endometriosis have found that 6 months of GnRH-a treatment before in vitro fertilization improves the chances of conceiving a successful pregnancy.6

What To Think About

Not all women with endometriosis have pain. And endometriosis does not always get worse over time. During pregnancy, endometriosis usually improves, as it does after menopause. If you have mild pain, have no plans for a future pregnancy, or are near menopause (around age 50), you may not feel a need for treatment. The decision is up to you.

Pain recurrence after hormone therapy

After treatment with any hormone therapy, endometriosis pain can, but does not always, return. If you have more severe endometriosis, pain is more likely to return.

By: Healthwise StaffLast Revised: July 28, 2009
Medical Review: Sarah Anne Marshall, MD - Family Medicine
Deborah A. Penava, BA, MD, FRCSC, MPH - Obstetrics and Gynecology

© 1995-2011 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.

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