Goda Jakovlevaitė1, Laurynas Varanavičius1
1Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Medical Academy, Faculty of Medicine
Abstract
Endometriosis is characterized by an estrogen-dependent chronic inflammatory process that primarily affects the pelvic tissues, including the ovaries. It develops when the secreted endometrial tissue retrogradely extravels outside the uterus and settles on the pelvic organs and peritoneum, and proliferates in the background of impaired immune response. Endometriosis is the most common cause of chronic pelvic pain in women and is associated with infertility. A woman with endometriosis also suffers from a painful and abundant menstrual period, painful intercourse and chronic fatigue. The disease affects about 10 percent of the world’s population women of childbearing potential. At first the disease is diagnosed by gynecological examination and transvaginal ultrasound. Though laparoscopy and histological examination are the most important methods for diagnosing endometriosis. Two strategies are used for the medical treatment of endometriosis – inhibition of follicular growth, which causes amenorrhea and thus inhibits the development of endometriosis or the promotion of follicular growth and ovulation. Also very often is used surgical treatment. It is very important to think about endometriosis while differentiating pelvic pain in young women, so it could be diagnosed in early stages.
The aim of this article is based on the latest scientific literature covering the clinical manifestations of endometriosis, modern diagnostics and treatment options. In this article was analysed the topic of endometriosis in publications published in scientific databases. A literature search was conducted in 2021 March – 2021 April using PubMed and UptoDate scientific databases also analyzing the latest scientific articles by keywords: endometriosis, infertility, pain, endometriosis diagnosis, endometriosis treatment.
Keywords: endometriosis, infertility, pain, endometriosis diagnosis, endometriosis treatment.