Introduction Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is one of the most frequent symptoms in women of reproductive age. This is an enigmatic clinical condition that results from the complex interactions of physiological and psychological factors with direct impact on the social, marital, and professional lives of women. Aim To evaluate the quality of life and sexual satisfaction of women who suffer from CPP with or without endometriosis. Method Forty-nine patients who had been diagnosed with endometriosis and 35 patients with CPP diagnosed with another gynecological condition, all 84 of whom were treated at the Chronic Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis Clinic at Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) from January to July of 2008. The controls were 50 healthy women from the Family Planning Clinic at UNIFESP. Main Outcome Measures World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment-Bref (WHOQOL-BREF) quality of life questionnaire and the Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS). Results No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups with CPP symptoms, in either the results from the WHOQOL-BREF or in the GRISS questionnaire. In both questionnaires, differences were observed when the two groups of symptomatic women were compared with the group of healthy women. Conclusion CPP caused by endometriosis or other gynecological conditions leads to a significant reduction of quality of life and sexual satisfaction.

This literature review analyzed the evidence on nutritional aspects related to the pathogenesis and progression of endometriosis. Diets deficient in nutrients result in changes in lipid metabolism, oxidative stress and promote epigenetic abnormalities, that may be involved in the genesis and progression of the disease. Foods rich in omega 3 with anti-inflammatory effects, supplementation with Nacetylcysteine, vitamin D and resveratrol, in addition to the increased consumption of fruits, vegetables (preferably organic) and whole grains exert a protective effect, reducing the risk of development and possible regression of disease. Dietary re-education seems to be a promising tool in the prevention and treatment of endometriosis.

We designed the present study in order to evaluate the eventual role of polymorphisms in the genes encoding cytochrome P450c17alpha (CYP17) and the progesterone receptor (PROGINS) as risk factors for endometriosis development. Eligible cases consisted of 121 women with surgically confirmed endometriosis who underwent treatment in a hospital in São Paulo, Brazil during the period from September 2003 to September 2005. The 281 controls were participants with normal gynecological as well as pelvic ultrasound evaluation, who did not have any gynecological conditions during their reproductive lives such as pelvic pain and/or dyspareunia nor infertility history. Genomic DNA was obtained from buccal cells and processed for DNA extraction using the GFX DNA extraction kit (GE Healthcare). The CYP17 (-34T-->C) polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay has been described previously, as has the progesterone receptor polymorphism (PROGINS) detection assay. PROGINS heterozygosis genotype frequencies were shown to be statistically higher in endometriosis cases compared with controls. On the other hand, differences in the CYP17 polymorphism (-34T-->C) frequencies were not even close to significance (p = 0.278) according to our findings.

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This video demonstrates a technique to expose the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves of the pelvis to preserve them in radical pelvic surgery, by means of direct visualization, in a similar fashion to the technique used to preserve the ureters. An alternative to this technique is to use landmarks for limiting dissection and avoiding intraoperative nerve injury. Despite being safe and more easily reproducible, this latter technique is associated with a higher rate of symptom persistence.