Will you need surgery for endometriosis?

That depends on how proactive you’d like to be with fertility treatment. The disease of endometriosis frustrates fertility experts and reproductive endocrinologists like Dr. Dan Gehlbach for these reasons:

• A diagnosis is not always definitive. In rare cases, endometriosis growth areas can be too small, or too camouflaged to detect in surgery.
• The severity of symptoms does not coincide with the degree of endometriosis.
• The severity of the disease does not always coincide with infertility.

When you are trying to get pregnant, you’ll want to make every effort to clear a path for conception. As a woman, that means adopting a healthy lifestyle, tracking ovulation and ruling out anatomical issues. A sonogram or hysteroscopy can give definitive answers about problems like blocked fallopian tubes, but only surgery can confirm endometriosis.

Surgery for Endometriosis

Dr. Gehlbach will explain the process for diagnosing and treating endometriosis, but the two words that will stand out are ‘minimally invasive.’ Laparoscopic or robotic surgeries replace the ‘open’ surgeries of the past.

Here’s what you can expect with minimally invasive surgery for endometriosis:

1. You will check in to the day surgery center with Dr. Gehlbach and meet the anesthesiologist.
2. The surgery usually lasts 45 minutes to an hour, and involves 2-3 tiny keyhole incisions.
3. Dr. Gehlbach uses a lighted instrument (laparoscope) to look for endometriosis in and around the pelvic cavity, including the ovaries and uterus.
4. If he finds endometriosis, Dr. Gehlbach will use secondary instruments to remove the lesions or scar tissue.
5. You will receive a report when you awake, and will return to Midwest Reproductive Center to discuss the findings.
6. Recovery time after surgery for endometriosis is usually around a week.

If endometriosis is affecting your fertility, it’s best to remove it. Surgery is the only way to effectively find and treat endometriosis. Contact Midwest Reproductive Center to ask about the odds of getting pregnant after surgery for endometriosis.

Need more info on endometriosis? Check out our site here.