Abdominal-pelvic pain in female patients with endometriosis - a review of the literature

• Main Authors: Dumitru Cristinel Badiu, Marina Romina Sima, Claudia Mehedintu, Bogdan Mastalier, Mihaela Mandu, Liliana Florina Andronache, Dan Nicolae Paduraru, Anca Pantea Stoian, Valentin Titus Grigorean
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ion Motofei, Carol Davila University 2018-10-01
• Series: Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences
• Subjects:  endometriosis; pain; postoperative; estrogens; treatment; nutrition
• Online Access: https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1128&context=jmms

Abdominal-pelvic pain is the dominant symptom in endometriosis, one of the most common pathologies that affect women, being also a multifactorial disorder. Exploratory laparoscopy allows the correct assessment of the location as well as severity and extent of the lesions, thus representing the current gold standard in diagnosis. The correlation of pain intensity with the evolutionary stage of endometriosis is inconstant. Surgical treatment, preferably performed laparoscopically, includes the excision of the ectopic endometrium, having as a primary objective the control of persistent pain and the removal of all endometriotic foci. This procedure helps to improve the life quality of the patient, to reduce relapses, to control postoperative pain, and to eliminate the disease. Pre- and post-operative adjuvant medical treatment is used due to its effects on the symptomatology, prolonging the asymptomatic period of the disease. Despite the use of the above procedures, there are cases in which the abdominal-pelvic pain persists even after surgery, which makes endometriosis a significant challenge for both the specialist and the patient, as well as for the medical system itself, as the study of the pathogenic mechanisms is yet the subject of numerous studies. Nutritional education in these patients is essential, given the recommendation to restrict the range of foods and to increase other foods that have an important role in reducing the risk or even leading to regression of the endometrial pathology.