Which One is Better for Endometriosis Treatment: Drug or Surgery?

 

 

Statistics show that women aged 25 to 45 are at high risk of endometriosis. Generally speaking, if your endometrium grows outside the lining of the uterus, you must have endometriosis.

 

These ectopic endometria will interfere with the normal function of the reproductive organs and are often accompanied by a variety of menstrual disorders symptoms, such as prolonged menstrual period, excessive menstrual bleeding, pre-menstrual drip, and secondary dysmenorrhea.

 

In treating endometriosis, doctors often adopt specific methods based on your condition. It is considered that laparoscopic diagnosis and operation combined with drugs are practical approaches to treating this disease.

 

Most women who have endometriosis can conceive normally. But if you're having problems getting pregnant, endometriosis may be the cause. Your doctor may suggest a laparoscopy to find out the answer. In this procedure, a surgeon inserts a small camera through a tube into your abdomen to check for abnormal endometrial tissue. The surgeon might want to confirm the diagnosis with a biopsy. If you've been diagnosed with endometriosis, you have several treatment options, depending on the severity of the disease.

 

For young women who desire to give birth to a child, doctors usually carry out a cystectomy in the ovary to allow these women to have their babies. But this surgery has the highest recurrence rate, up to 50 percent. Patients with severe disease or adenomyosis may be treated with surgery that preserves ovarian function. And one in four patients may have a recurrence after the surgery. But older patients or women with severe dysmenorrhea may be treated with radical surgery to remove both ovaries.

 

Patients also have a wide range of drug options, including gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs, androgen derivatives, short-acting oral contraceptives, and progesterone.

 

These drugs are powerful, but they also have noticeable side effects. Androgenic derivatives such as danazol suppositories, which are applied in the vagina to significantly reduce inflammation, are particularly suitable for this condition. Short-acting oral contraceptives can be used for first-line treatment of endometriosis dysmenorrhea and for consolidating therapy. They also reduce the risk of ovarian cancer. But if you have obesity, breast cancer, or other problems, you can not use them.

 

As an oral drug, highly effective progesterone can be added to the intrauterine device and placed into the uterine cavity to significantly relieve dysmenorrhea and inhibit endometrial growth while contraception.

Many medications are available to treat endometriosis, The pain is usually relieved during the medication, but the symptoms typically recur soon after the drug is stopped. Therefore, the best treatment plan should be applied based on different age stages, fertility needs of patients, and long-term management.

 

Surgery is one of the primary methods for the treatment of endometriosis. It can define the scope and nature of the lesion, which has a good effect on relieving pain and promoting fertility. Endometriosis is one of the primary causes of pregnancy difficulties. After a precise diagnosis, doctors consider various factors to treat endometriosis, including the fertility situation, symptoms, and lesion range. 

 

You may need to remove the entire uterus and bilateral appendages for women approaching menopause, especially those with severe and recurrent endometriosis.

 

For women who do not need to give birth to a child, have a severe condition, and are less than 45 years old, one side of the ovarian tissue may be retained to avoid early menopause. The goal is to rebuild the ovaries and repair the tissue.

 

Not all treatments work well for women with endometriosis. As time passes, endometriosis symptoms may recur after the treatment is stopped. Pain medications may work well if pain or other symptoms are mild. But researchers are still looking for medication treatments for infertility due to endometriosis.