Abstract
The treatment of endometriosis-associated pain continues to be a major problem for women and their clinicians.1, 2 Laparoscopy, required to confirm the diagnosis, is usually combined with surgical ablation or excision of endometriotic lesions to alleviate pain and hormonal contraceptives are used to control symptoms before and after the operation.1, 3 Recurrence of pain is common, with 40–50% of women with endometriosis reporting recurrence within 5 years of treatment4 and nearly two-thirds of women requiring repeat surgery.5 Gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues (agonists and antagonists), which cause profound suppression of ovarian oestrogen production, are often used as second-line agents to control pain and reduce the need for further surgery,6 but they can lead to hypoestrogenic side-effects including hot flushes, night sweats, and loss of bone mineral density; these side effects can be addressed with the addition of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) without compromising treatment efficacy.7, 8
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2244-2245 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Journal | The Lancet |
| Volume | 399 |
| Issue number | 10343 |
| Early online date | 16 Jun 2022 |
| DOIs |
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| Publication status | Published - 18 Jun 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:LS reports a grant from the UK National Institute for Health and Care Research and from EU Horizon 2020 unrelated to the topic of this Comment, and honorarium from Gideon-Richter for attending one advisory board meeting on the use of relugolix combination therapy in the management of fibroids. LS is Chief Investigator for the REGAL trial (NIHR127280), on which one of the co authors of the Article discussed in this Comment is a co-applicant unrelated to relugolix combination therapy. SB reports royalties and honorarium from Cambridge University Press; speaker's honorarium from the Obstetrical & Gynaecological Society of Singapore, SMART Masterclass, Taiwanese Society of Reproductive Medicine, and the 12th FERRING Forum Fertility, all paid to the University of Aberdeen; travel expenses paid to attend the SMART Masterclass meeting in York, UK, and the 12th FERRING Forum Fertility in Hamburg, Germany; and honorarium from NHS Grampian, all unrelated to the topic of this Comment.