NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. – Pregnancy occurred in more than half of infertile women who had a segmental laparoscopic bowel resection for endometriosis.
Of 155 women, 96 (62%) conceived after the surgery. Most of these pregnancies (71 of 96; 74%) were spontaneous, Dr. Rosa Maria Neme reported at a meeting sponsored by AAGL.
The prospective study included women treated during 2009-2012 at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, said Dr. Neme, director of the university’s endometriosis center. The patients were a mean of 32 years old.
Most (92%) had bowel symptoms, including pain during defecation, diarrhea and constipation, abdominal bloating, and dyschezia. Endometriosis-related symptoms were present in all, and included dysmenorrhea, nonmenstrual pelvic pain and dyspareunia, tenesmus, cyclic rectal bleeding, lower back pain, and asthenia.
An associated infertility was present in 62% (155), with a mean duration of 18 months. Most patients (78%) had already undergone some form of fertility treatment before surgery and 69% had undergone a previous surgery for pelvic pain.
All of the patients had a torus bowel resection. A number of other procedures also were performed during the surgery, including extensive ureterolysis (80%), ovarian cystectomy (70%), partial vaginal resection (20%), and appendectomy (20%).
The mean operative time was 117 minutes. There were no conversions to open surgery, no transfusions, and no intra- or postoperative complications. The mean length of stay was 3 days. The pathology of all resected lesions was stromal and glandular endometriosis.
After the surgery, 96 pregnancies occurred among the subgroup with infertility (62%). The median time to conception was 8 months. The majority of pregnancies were spontaneous (71), with the rest achieved by in vitro fertilization. There were four miscarriages.
A quality of life survey was conducted at 6 months. By that time, dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia and pain on defecation, intestinal cramping, diarrhea and constipation had disappeared in all women.
Dr. Neme had no financial disclosures.