Endometriosis: a new look at an old problem

Annotation. Endometriosis is a disease of women of adolescent and reproductive age, which is characterised by ectopic endometrial tissue and is usually associated with chronic pain and infertility. This disease affects 10-15% of women of reproductive age and 35-50% of women with pelvic pain and/or infertility. It should be noted that there are also cases of endometriosis in women in the postmenopausal period. The aim of the study was to identify the main trends and features of endometriosis diagnosis depending on its location. In the course of the study, a systematic review and meta-analysis of foreign and domestic literature was carried out using descriptive, bibliosemantic and statistical methods. The sources were scientific articles, namely systematic reviews and descriptions of clinical cases from the scientometric databases Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, UpToDate and other publications. The total number of scientific sources is 44 articles. The literature search was carried out using the following Keywords: “endometriosis”, “women of reproductive age”, “gynecology”, “endometrial infiltration” and “ectopic localisation”. The total number of patients with endometriosis described in the 26 clinical cases studied is 30 women. The average age of the women was 36,9 years. Diagnosis endometriosis, as an interdisciplinary pathology, requires a comprehensive approach. First of all, it is a collection of complaints and medical history. It has been established that the most common complaint in endometriosis of any location is pain. The average determined duration of the symptom is 264,3 days, which indicates the prevalence of chronic forms of pathology. Despite research on biomarkers biomarkers, no blood test can reliably diagnose endometriosis, so priority is given to instrumental research methods. It was found that the most commonly used method of examination is ultrasound (15 cases (50%)). The average size of the lesions according to 11 studies was 3.2 cm by 2.0 cm. Additional imaging modalities included computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diagnostic laparoscopy and colonoscopy with biopsy. The most common method of final is a postoperative histological examination.