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| POSTED 11/1/2005 |
Certain Surgery Boosts Fertility
for Women with Endometriosis
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A new report conducted by Dr. Emile Darai from Hopital Tenon in Paris and her team of researchers found that women with colorectal endometriosis improve their likelihood of conceiving substantially after undergoing "keyhole" surgery to remove the affected section of bowel.
Previous studies have reported that laparoscopy is feasible for women with this type of endometriosis, but little was previously known about its effect on fertility.
To investigate, Dr. Emile Darai, from Hopital Tenon in Paris, and colleagues assessed the fertility outcomes of 22 endometriosis patients who underwent laparoscopic colorectal resection and wanted to get pregnant. The average follow-up period after surgery was two years.
Forty-five percent of the women (10 patients) conceived after an average of eight months following surgery. Twelve pregnancies occurred, nine through spontaneous conception and three after in vitro fertilization (IVF). The live birth rate was 82 percent.
These preliminary results after laparoscopic removal of a segment of the colon for endometriosis "tend to confirm that extensive surgery can enhance fertility," the team wrote in the October 2005 edition of Fertility and Sterility. “Further trials are required to identify the patient population most likely to benefit from this major surgery."
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