3. Results
From January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2007, 503 patients underwent hysterectomy for the treatment of severe pelvic endometriosis, 115 patients by LH, and 388 patients by AH. The mean age of the women at surgery was 42.9 years (range 25.0–62.0); the mean parity was 0.7 (range 0–5); the mean BMI was 23.4 (range 15.0–43.0); and the mean preoperative hematocrit was 36.5% (range 24.7%–45.9%). No statistically significant differences were detected between the 2 treatment groups (Table 1). Severe dysmenorrhea was the most frequent presenting symptom in both groups (70.1%). Nearly half of the patients in each group had ovarian endometriotic cysts. Within the LH group, 91 women (79.1%) underwent laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy or LH(a), whereas 24 women (20.9%) underwent total LH.