Coagulation versus Excision surgery

Coagulation versus excision of primary superficial endometriosis: a 2-year follow-up
Marc P. Radosa, Tina S. Bernardi, Ivalyo Georgiev, Herbert Diebolder, Oumar Camara, Ingo B. Runnebaum
European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology
Volume 150, Issue 2, Pages 195-198 (June 2010)
Received 24 July 2009; received in revised form 4 December 2009; accepted 5 February 2010. published online 24 February 2010.

Abstract

Objective
Even the common mild forms of endometriosis can strongly affect quality of life due to dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, dyschezia, or subfertility. We compared the effectiveness of the two laparoscopic methods, coagulation versus excision, for intraperitoneal superficial endometriosis with regard to recurrence and symptom control.

Study design
In a retrospective analysis we evaluated the postoperative follow-up of 79 patients, aged 16–42, with superficial manifestation of endometriosis (median rASRM score 9.2) operated on in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Jena University Hospital. Forty-three patients were treated by electrocoagulation and 36 underwent sharp excision. Therapy success was evaluated by using a questionnaire after a mean follow-up of 29 months. Patients were interviewed about pain associated with endometriosis such as dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, dyschezia and possible medical treatment after surgery. We evaluated the number of surgically proven relapses and questionnaire results using a pain score on an ordinal scale (1–5) for the three categories dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, and dyschezia.

Results
Both treatment methods resulted in a low number of endometriosis-related symptoms after surgical intervention and in recurrences of 2.8% in the coagulation group and 18.6% in the excision group. The recurrence rate in the coagulation group was lower (p=0.001). The coagulation group was also presented with a significantly lower postoperative pain score at our long-term follow-up (p=0.0067).

Conclusion
In cases of superficial endometriosis, laparoscopic surgery achieved low recurrence rates and good symptom control. Compared to sharp excision the use of bipolar electrocoagulation might result in fewer endometriosis-related symptoms as well as fewer relapses with need for surgical re-intervention after a more than 2-year interval. Due to the retrospective, non-randomized character of this study the results should be interpreted carefully. Further prospective studies are needed to assess the value of both surgical approaches in the treatment of endometriosis.