Endometriosis causes excess tissue growth, and the body doesn’t have a way to clear it on its own. While medication may be able to help manage symptoms, if you’re experiencing severe pain, surgery may be necessary.
Laparoscopic Surgery
In many cases, endometriosis surgery is performed laparoscopically while you’re under general anesthesia. This requires only one or more small incisions near the navel, and a thin tube with a video camera can be inserted into the pelvis.
The tube also contains surgical instruments to remove lesions. Depending on the type of endometriosis you have, a surgeon may cut away or burn off tissue.
Usually, this can be done as outpatient surgery, but depending on the severity of the disease, you may need to spend a night in the hospital.
Hysterectomy
Hysterectomy is the surgical removal the uterus. This can help treat severe endometriosis symptoms, but it isn’t right for everyone. A hysterectomy will prevent future pregnancy and may have long-term health effects.
Can Endometriosis Symptoms Come Back After Surgery?
Endometriosis is a chronic condition that will recur unless the menstrual cycle is stopped. “After surgery, we commonly suppress recurrent endometriosis by starting continuous birth control pills,” says Leena S. Nathan, MD, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist at UCLA Health in Westlake Village, California. “This is safe and effective. The goal is to avoid having a period, which can lead to further implants and bleeding within the pelvis.”
Preventing periods can be accomplished with certain hormonal birth control methods and GnRH agonists and antagonists.
The ultimate therapy would be a hysterectomy and removal of one or both ovaries. And endometriosis symptoms overwhelmingly improve after patients transition through menopause, as the menstrual cycle has stopped.
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