Diagnosis and management of endometriosis

Endometriosis is a common and complex condition that can cause considerable distress and can lead to the development of chronic pelvic pain, infertility or end-organ damage. Early recog- nition and diagnosis are key to providing timely treatment. Pri- mary care providers can make a clinical diagnosis of endometri- osis and start first-line medical management. Referral to a gynecologist for second-line hormonal therapy or surgery is important, when indicated. Hormonal or surgical treatments can provide symptom relief and are part of a long-term management plan for this chronic condition. Multidisciplinary care may be required to address complex persistent pain.

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Paul Yong reports funding from CIHR, Michael Smith Health Research BC, the Women’s Health Research Institute, the University of British Columbia and the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health. He reports meeting support from the Canadian Soci- ety for the Advancement of Gynecologic Excellence, the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health, the International Pelvic Pain Society and the World Endometriosis Society. He also sits on the data safety monitoring board a for CIHR-funded clinical trial, the strategic advisory board for the Women’s Health Research Institute,the boards of the Canadian Society for the Advancement of Gynecologic Excellence, the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health and the World Endometriosis Society. No other competing interests were declared. This article was solicited and has been peer reviewed. Affiliations: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of British Columbia; BC Women’s Centre for Pelvic Pain and Endometri- osis, Vancouver, BC Contributors: All of the authors contributed to the conception and design of the work, drafted the manuscript, revised it critically for important intellectual content, gave final approval of the version to be published and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work. Content licence: This is an Open Access article distributed in accord- ance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original publication is properly cited, the use is noncommercial (i.e., research or educational use), and no modifi- cations or adaptations are made. See: https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Correspondence to: Catherine Allaire, [email protected]