Pain and endometriosis: Etiology, impact, and therapeutics

Robert N Taylor, Lone Hummelshoj, Lone Hummelshøj, Pamela Stratton, Paolo Vercellini
Middle East Fertility Society journal · 2012 · vol. 17(4) , pp. 221–225 · doi:10.1016/j.mefs.2012.09.002 · PMID:23730148 · W2065207919
article OA: diamond CC0 ⤵ 25 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This opinion paper reviews clinical and translational evidence of chronic pain in endometriosis, assessing current medical treatments and highlighting the need for new strategies to address poorly understood pain mechanisms.

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Abstract

The association of pain and endometriosis was recognized with the first definitive published reports of this disorder. Unfortunately, the precise etiologies and pathways leading to nociception and pain symptoms in endometriosis remain poorly understood, and as a result, effective therapeutic interventions are lacking with consequent profound effects on affected women's quality of life. In this opinion paper we summarize selected proceedings presented at the 28th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in Istanbul, Turkey, and review the clinical and translational evidence of chronic pain, neurogenesis, and the pernicious impact of dyspareunia on women with symptomatic endometriosis. The effectiveness of medical treatments is critically assessed and the findings indicate that good therapeutic options are available with extant medications effective in some sub-groups of women with endometriosis, many of which are affordable globally. Nevertheless, new management strategies and drugs need to be developed to increase the options of all afflicted women to minimize and ideally eradicate painful symptoms of endometriosis. However, only by elucidating distinctions among sub-groups with specific symptoms, suggesting different mechanisms, are we likely to derive truly successful therapeutic strategies.

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Condition tags

endometriosisdyspareunia

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.

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Cited by (25)

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