Abstract
Objective: To examine the factors that affect achieving a pregnancy following laparoscopic surgery for infertile women with endometriosis.
Design: Retrospective study
Setting: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shimane Prefectual Central Hospital
Patients: A total of 33 infertile women with endometriosis underwent laparoscopic surgery.
Main Outcome Measures: We compared a number of pertinent factors between pregnant and non-pregnant women. Statistical analyses were performed using Fisher's exact test and the Student's t-test. All results were considered statistically significant at P < 0.05.
Results: Of 33 women who underwent laparoscopic surgery, 22 achieved a pregnancy. Among those 22 pregnant women, 14 women were pregnant within one year after laparoscopic surgery. No significant differences were found between pregnant and non-pregnant women regarding age, size of endometriomas, adhesion score, peritubal adhesions, periovarian adhesions, or posterior cul-de-sac obliteration. The pregnancy rate for women with a peritoneal lesion score of 6 points was significantly lower than that of women with a peritoneal lesion score of 0-2 points.
Conclusions: We are of the opinion that the peritoneal lesion score directly correlates with endometriosis-associated infertility. Furthermore, laparoscopic surgery is useful for the treatment of women with to endometriosis-associated infertility.
