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Minimally Invasive Surgery

Minimally Invasive Procedures

Laparoscopic Excision of Endometriosis

The diagnosis of endometriosis only requires that the surgeon look surgically, usually by laparoscopy. Like anything else in medicine, there can be false-positives and false-negatives. Sometimes a lesion can look classic for endometriosis and on pathology exam there is no endometriosis seen. Other times there can be a lesion that is very subtle and easy to miss, and on Pathology it is confirmed to be endometriosis. With laparoscopic excision, all areas of suspected endometriosis are excised completely down to normal tissue with adequate margins, and all specimens are sent to Pathology for confirmation. In addition to an excellent chance for long-term pain relief and minimizing the need for repeat surgeries, with excision you get to know what you do and do not have. This way a person is not labeled with a condition that they may not actually have.

Sometimes all specimens come back negative for endometriosis, but the pain feels fine. Sometimes most or all of the specimens come back positive for endometriosis, but the patient still has pain. In these cases there may be some other factor that is responsible for their pain. All patients are clearly told that if their pain is not due to endometriosis, then laparoscopic excision will not help their pain. If their pain is due to endometriosis, then they may achieve the pain relief they are hoping for. The only way to find out is to look with laparoscopy.

Click here to learn more about Laparoscopic Excision of Endometriosis and view surgery photos.