![]() By Patrick Yeung, Jr., MD Director, SLUCare Center for Endometriosis Director, SLUCare Restorative Fertility Clinic Saint Louis University www.nomoendo.com IG: @ppyeungjrmd Those of us who dedicate our time to treating endometriosis frequently discuss how to reduce the time from onset to diagnosis, which is estimated to average anywhere from 4 to 11 years.1-3 In addition to patients who have never been told about endometriosis, we also see patients who have been placed on hormonal suppression for years based on their probability of having the condition. The classic hormonal suppression scenario looks like this: A young patient in her teens or early 20s has abnormally severe cramps. Her doctor recommends that she start taking hormonal suppression to feel better and keep the disease from progressing (despite the latter being unproven). The doctor advises the patient to stay on hormonal suppression until she wants to get pregnant. If she has trouble getting pregnant at that point, the doctor recommends ablation surgery and tells the patient she should try to get pregnant within 1 year after surgery. This frequently used timeframe, I believe, is based on the expectation of recurrence after ablation surgery as well as the general belief that “endo will always come back.” Over time, hormonal suppression and eventual ablation surgery often combine to reduce patients’ quality of life and impair fertility. Rather than take this unfortunate approach, I often choose to perform surgery earlier in the disease process using CO2 laser excision (Lumenis UltraPulse Duo CO2) rather than ablation. For the vast majority of patients, surgery is one and done, patients do not need to spend years taking hormonal suppression, and they can get pregnant on their own schedules. Patients appreciate the many advantages of this approach:
1. Soliman AM, Fuldeore M, Snabes MC. Factors Associated with Time to Endometriosis Diagnosis in the United States. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2017 Jul;26(7):788-797. 2. Staal AHJ, van der Zanden M, Nap AW. Diagnostic Delay of Endometriosis in the Netherlands. Gynecol Obstet Invest. 2016;81(4):321-4. 3. Hudelist G, Fritzer N, Thomas A, et al. Diagnostic delay for endometriosis in Austria and Germany: causes and possible consequences. Hum Reprod. 2012 Dec;27(12):3412-6. 4. Donnelly L, Yeung P. Diagnostic Challenges in a Young Woman with Endometriosis: The Value of Excision. Journal of Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain. January 17, 2015.
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