Medical treatment for rectovaginal endometriosis: what is the evidence?

Paolo Vercellini, Pier Giorgio Crosignani, P.G. Crosignani, Edgardo Somigliana, Nicola Berlanda, Giussy Barbàra, Giussy Barbara, Luigi Fedele
Human Reproduction · 2009 · vol. 24(10) , pp. 2504–2514 · doi:10.1093/humrep/dep231 · PMID:19574277 · W2128286983
review OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 116 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-06 ⓘ

This review of 217 cases found that most medical treatments for rectovaginal endometriosis provided substantial pain relief for 6-12 months, with significant symptom reduction or complete pain eradication reported by 60-90% of patients.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Rectovaginal endometriosis usually causes distressing pain. Surgical treatment may be effective but is associated with a high risk of morbidity and major complications. Information on the effect of medical alternatives for pain relief in this condition is scarce. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify all the English language published observational and randomized studies evaluating the efficacy of medical treatments on pain associated with rectovaginal endometriosis. A combination of keywords was used to identify relevant citations in PubMed, MEDLINE and EMBASE. RESULTS: A total of 217 cases of medically treated rectovaginal endometriosis were found; 68 in five observational, non-comparative studies, 59 in one patient preference cohort study, and 90 in a randomized controlled trial. An aromatase inhibitor was used in two of the non-comparative studies, vaginal danazol in one, a GnRH agonist in one, and an intrauterine progestin in one. Two estrogen-progestin combinations used transvaginally or transdermally were evaluated in the patient preference study, whereas an oral progestin and an estrogen-progestin combination were compared in the randomized controlled trial. With the exception of an aromatase inhibitor used alone, the antalgic effect of the considered medical therapies was high for the entire treatment period (from 6 to 12 months), with 60-90% of patients reporting considerable reduction or complete relief from pain symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Despite problems in interpretation of data, the effect of medical treatment in terms of pain relief in women with rectovaginal endometriosis appear substantial.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisbowel_endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Rectal Diseases Vaginal Diseases Anastrozole Aromatase Inhibitors Aromatase Inhibitors Aromatase Inhibitors Cohort Studies Danazol Danazol Danazol Endometriosis Female Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Humans Intrauterine Devices Levonorgestrel Levonorgestrel Levonorgestrel

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (56)

Cited by (50)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-04T01:30:01.192114+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:14:05.573375+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK