Laparoscopic procedures can alleviate fatigue in women suffering from endometriosis

Endometriosis profoundly affects women’s overall well-being, impacting both their physical and emotional health.

Key Points

Highlights:

• Removal of endometriotic lesions during laparoscopic surgery increases the quality of life by decreasing pain and altering the immune microenvironment.

Importance:

• For optimal patient care in managing endometriosis, it is essential to assess all aspects of a patient's life, including the level of fatigue. 

What’s done here?

• This single-center prospective pilot study aimed to evaluate the impact of laparoscopic treatment for endometriosis on fatigue and to compare fatigue levels between women with and without endometriosis.
• The control group consisted of women who underwent laparoscopic surgery for other benign gynecological conditions.
• To measure the severity of fatigue, the Visual Analog Fatigue Scale and Fatigue Severity Scale were used both the day before surgery and at the 6-month postoperative follow-up.
• The Endometriosis Health Profile 30 was also utilized to assess quality of life.

Key Results:

• The study included 58 women: 30 with endometriosis and 28 in the control group.
• Women with endometriosis had notably higher Fatigue Severity Scale scores compared to the control group.
• The Fatigue Severity Scale scores improved significantly in the endometriosis group at 6 months post-surgery, scores remained unchanged in the control group.
• Postoperative fatigue severity was similar between the two groups.
• Multivariate regression analysis identified endometriosis as an independent risk factor for preoperative fatigue.
• No significant link was found between fatigue and disease stage or deep infiltrating endometriosis.
• The endometriosis group reported higher preoperative abdominal pain scores, which decreased significantly after surgery.
• There was no significant change in preoperative and postoperative abdominal pain scores in the control group.

Strengths and Limitations:

• This is the first study to compare fatigue severity in women with and without endometriosis, prospective design and detailed evaluation with comorbidities and medication were other strengths.
• All operations were performed by the same team with the same treatment techniques.
• Design of the study, small sample size, and non-inclusion of additional confounding factors such as insomnia and sleep disturbance are limitations.

Lay Summary

The most common symptoms of endometriosis include pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, and infertility. Effective management is essential due to the significant impact these symptoms have on a woman's quality of life. Fatigue, characterized by persistent and severe tiredness, is also linked to various chronic conditions, including rheumatological diseases and cancer.

Research Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38892861/