Managing symptomatic endometriosis
By Lone Hummelshoj
Three specialists in endometriosis shared their experience in managing symptomatic endometriosis at the 66th Annual Meeting of the ASRM, from which we reported back in October 2010.
These presentations are now available in full online!
The messages they are conveying are important to all women with endometriosis: those in chronic pain, those struggling with fertility, and those young women who may or may not even know yet if they have the disease yet.
Please read on – please click on the links recommended below, because you will be getting the best messages you can get in terms of managing symptomatic endometriosis from top specialists in our field!
Assumptions underlying current treatments
Professor Linda Giudice
Linda Giudice, Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (USA), describes the pathophysiologic bases of medical therapies for endometriosis.
She explains the assumptions underlying the current therapeutic interventions and options – and the necessity of finding the right individual balance when it comes to choosing a treatment.
Professor Giudice moves on to address recent progress in the understanding of pain and endometriosis referencing in particular the work of Ian Fraser’s group which suggests that nerve fibres may have an important implication in understanding the underlying pain mechanisms in endometriosis – and how this work may perhaps help change the future management of chronic pain.
» Webcast of Professor Giudice’s presentation
» Transcript of Professor Giudice’s presentation
Endometriosis in the adolescent
Dr Marc Laufer
Marc Laufer, Chief of Gynaecology at the Children’s Hospital in Boston, Center for Reproductive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, addresses the course and outcome of endometriosis in the adolescent.
In his presentation Dr Laufer focuses specifically on the detection and classification of lesions, which can be challenging to identify in these young women, and moves on to address specific therapeutic options for this younger population.
The emphasis, however, of his presentation is:”what is normal when it comes to menstrual pain?”. Young women may not necessarily know what is normal and what is not when it comes to menstruation, and Dr Laufer urged those who cannot go to school or partake in normal social activities, due to menstrual pain, to seek medical advice.
In other words: “Women should not be led to believe that they simply have to endure pelvic pain because it is their lot to do”. Please spread the word!
» Webcast of Dr Laufer’s presentation
» Transcript of Dr Laufer’s presentation
Pros and cons of current treatment options
Dr Eric Surrey
The last presentation, by Dr Eric Surrey from the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine at Lone Tree, addresses the evidence supporting both medical and surgical management of symptomatic endometriosis. In his comprehensive review Dr Surrey talks through the pros and cons of all current treatment options for endometriosis.
» Webcast of Dr Surrey’s presentation
» Transcript of Dr Surrey’s presentation
The full documentation from this symposium is now available online through the ASRM publication Sexuality, Reproduction and Menopause.
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