Our study invited women to report resource use based on endometriosis-associated symptoms only, rather than drawing on a control population of women without endometriosis. Our study showed that the economic burden associated with endometriosis treated in referral centres is high and is similar to other chronic diseases (diabetes, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis). It arises predominantly from productivity loss, and is predicted by decreased quality of life.

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The WERF EndoCost study is funded by the World Endometriosis Research Foundation (WERF) through grants received from Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Takeda Italia Farmaceutici SpA, Pfizer Ltd and the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. The sponsors did not have a role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the data; and preparation, review or approval of the manuscript. L.H. is the chief executive and T.D. was a board member of WERF at the time of funding. T.D. holds the Merck-Serono Chair in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery, and the Ferring Chair in Reproductive Medicine at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium and has served as consultant/research collaborator for Merck-Serono, Schering-Plough, Astellas and Arresto.

This study provides Class IV evidence that repeated doses of rituximab result in stabilization in most patients.

When using pain scales their strengths and weaknesses must be known and included in the analysis. VAS is the most frequently used pain scale and, together with NRS, seems the best adapted for endometriosis pain measurement. The use of VAS or NRS for each type of typical pain related to endometriosis (dysmenorrhea, deep dyspareunia and non-menstrual chronic pelvic pain), combined with the CGI and a quality-of-life scale will provide both clinicians and researchers with tools to evaluate treatment response.

Sample All women given surgical treatment for deep endometriosis.Methods Women who underwent surgery for deep endometriosis were reviewed for intra-and postoperative complications.Main outcome measures Primary outcomes were rates of intraand postoperative complications. Complications were compared according to the procedure performed.Results A total of 568 women were included in the study, with a mean age of 32.4 years. The mean estimated diameter of the nodule felt by vaginal examination was 1.8 cm (ranging from 0.5 to 7 cm). Laparoscopic surgery was performed in 560 women (98.6%), and conversion was required in 2.3%. The mean operative time was 155 minutes. Intraoperative complications occurred in 12 women (2.1%), including six minor (1.05%) and six major (1.05%) complications. Postoperative complications developed in 79 women (13.9%), including 54 minor (9.5%) and 26 major (4.6%) complications (one woman had both minor and major postoperative complications). The overall major postoperative complication rate for women who underwent any type of rectal surgery (shaving, excision and suture, or segmental resection) was 9.3% (21 out of 226), compared with only 1.5% for the other women (five out of 342) (P < 0.01). Shaving presented less major postoperative complications compared with segmental resection (24 versus 6.7%; P = 0.004).Conclusions Surgery for deep endometriosis is feasible, but it is associated with major complications, especially when any type of rectal surgery must be performed.

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