A multi-centre randomised controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of laparoscopic removal of isolated superficial peritoneal endometriosis for the management of chronic pelvic pain in women. Our objective?To determine whether laparoscopic excision/ablation is of clinical benefit to women with chronic pelvic pain where the only finding is superficial peritoneal endometriosis. HTML Why we are doing this research?Endometriosis (where cells similar to the womb-lining are found outside the womb) affects~176 million women worldwide and can lead to debilitating pelvic pain. Three subtypes of endometriosis exist, with ~80% of women having ‘superficial peritoneal’ endometriosis (SPE). Endometriosis is diagnosed by keyhole surgery (laparoscopy) and, if SPE is found, gynaecologists usually remove it surgically. However, many women get limited pain relief from surgical removal of SPE. We therefore plan to undertake a multi-centre trial across the UK where women who have only SPE found at laparoscopy are randomly allocated to have surgical removal or not to have it removed. We want to determine whether surgical removal improves overall SPE symptoms and quality of life, or whether surgery is of no benefit, exacerbates symptoms, or even causes harm. HTML Find out more on the ESPriT2 website HTML Image This article was published on 2024-09-10
