Surgical Treatment
Only one randomized trial has been conducted to evaluate the effect of surgery on the pain associated
with endometriosis. A total of 74 women with stage I, II, or III disease were randomly assigned to operative laparoscopy with ablation of implants, lysis of adhesions, and ablation of the uterosacral nerve or to diagnostic laparoscopy alone. Pain decreased substantially in 62.5 percent of the women in the operative-laparoscopy group and in 22.6 percent of those
in the diagnostic-laparoscopy group. Among the women in the operative-laparoscopy group who had less pain at six months, 90 percent continued to have less pain at one year.