Impact of Deep Endometriosis Surgery on Sexual Health

Endometriosis is a disease affecting between 5 and 15% of women and more than 40% of infertile women.

The main stakes of this disease are that it is benign but difficult to diagnose, often very painful, difficult to predict, potentially recurrent, while being resolvable at menopause. It affects women of childbearing age and can cause infertility and pain during intercourse. Also, by its characteristics, it can significantly deteriorate the quality of life.

The management of endometriosis, from diagnosis to treatment, is not consensual. There are medical or surgical treatments depending on the severity of the lesions, their location and the severity of the symptoms. Deep endometriosis, that is to say when there is digestive, urinary, utero sacral or peritoneal ligament more than 5mm deep, poses, in particular, a therapeutic problem because surgery is often the only option but it can be decadent.

Due to genital involvement, this disease has a real impact on the sexuality of patients. Surgery allows in a number of cases to reduce pain, including those occurring during intercourse. But the impact on sexuality in a more global way remains to be studied. The latter can be improved by the reduction of pain, but impacted by the surgery which is not insignificant on the representation of the woman of her own body.