GYNEACOLOGY
endometriosis

Endometriosis affects more than 170 million women worldwide and up to 10% of women of reproductive age, with a higher prevalence in women with dysmenorrhea (40–60%), subfertility (21–47%), and/or pelvic pain (71–87%). Endometriosis is a chronic, and often progressive, inflammatory disease defined as the abnormal presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. Ectopic tissue reacts in the same way as the endometrium during the menstrual cycle. This tissue can form lesions on the ovaries, intestines, bladder, and in the Douglas pouch as well as in the pleura, lung parenchyma, and airways. As a consequence of inflammatory reaction and infiltration of anatomic structures, endometriosis can cause “pain symptoms” including dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, dyschezia, dysuria, and chronic pelvic pain.¹