We are once again partnering with Women’s Health Collective Canada to ensure you and your healthcare providers are equipped with accurate information about women-specific health issues. Our last post was all about menopause. This post sheds light on Endometriosis and highlights the latest findings from the experts themselves. It’s time to end the endometriosis diagnosis delay and WHCC researchers are leading the charge!

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Around one million Canadians have endometriosis, “a condition in which cells similar to the lining of the uterus, or endometrium, grow outside the uterus,” per the Alberta Women’s Health Foundation.

The condition can cause moderate to severe pain, heavy menstrual bleeding, chronic fatigue, and infertility. As a result, those with endometriosis can often have “a reduced quality of life with mental health issues and difficulties in personal relationships,” according to one study.

Endometriosis patients have also been found by researchers to suffer from “high levels of stress and detriments in mental health” that can affect their work, study and relationships. Treating endometriosis is a matter of improving symptoms and ensuring patients’ lives are not burdened, rather than curing disease outright.

In Canada, however, endometriosis patients face an average diagnostic time of 5.4 years, including “a 3-year delay from onset of symptoms to physician consultation and a 2-year delay between physician consultation and diagnosis.” The delay has been attributed to a lack of awareness about the condition.

Thankfully, this delay has decreased on average in the last few years. One study on endometriosis in Canada attributes this downward trend to “improved public and physician disease awareness.” Another study associated this with “an increasing awareness of endometriosis in the medical field and the society.”

Education is key to eliminating the gap entirely. Both providers and patients “may be helped by better diagnostic guidelines and a greater awareness of the complexity of endometriosis symptoms.”

WHCC-affiliated researchers are working toward this goal by conducting pioneering research and raising public awareness about endometriosis. Here are some of their latest findings:

 

STUDY #1

Retrospective Analysis Of Satisfaction, Quality Of Life, And Perioperative Complications In A Cohort Of Women Undergoing Laparoscopic Sacrocolpopexy Using An Ultra-lightweight Polypropylene Mesh (Ulwpm) by Yale Tang, Cindy Xue, and Pieter Kruger

Findings:

Early data from minimally invasive laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy (LSC) has been promising, though few studies have examined the effect of concurrent hysterectomy on rates of mesh erosion and other outcomes of interest in the era of ULWPM. Our study determines postoperative satisfaction, quality of life, and rates of peri-operative complication in a cohort of women undergoing LSC with an ULWPM, with and without concurrent hysterectomy. LSC appears to be a safe and efficacious procedure in the treatment of vault prolapse, and concurrent hysterectomy did not increase the risk of complications.

STUDY #2

Diagnosis and management of endometriosis by Catherine Allaire, MD, Mohamed A. Bedaiwy, MD PhD, and Paul J. Yong, MD PhD

Findings:

Early recognition and diagnosis are key to providing timely treatment. Primary care providers can make a clinical diagnosis of endometriosis and start first-line medical management. Referral to a gynecologist for second-line hormonal therapy or surgery is important, when indicated. Hormonal or surgical treatments can provide symptom relief and are part of a long-term management plan for this chronic condition. Multidisciplinary care may be required to address complex persistent pain.

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For more information on pain management as it relates to conditions such as endometriosis, listen to Women’s College Hospital Foundation’s Mind the Health Gap podcast episode titled “Chronic Pain.” The episode features Dr. Tania Di Renna from Women’s College Hospital’s Toronto Academic Pain Management Institute (TAPMI), and Céleste Corkery, former manager of TAPMI, who discuss chronic pain and pain management.

Thank you to Women’s Health Collective Canada for allowing us to share these studies and their findings. If you’d like to stay up to date on the latest women-focused research happening in Canada, be sure to follow WHCC on Instagram and check into their website regularly!

 

A version of this post was originally published on August 30, 2023 on the WHCC Blog and has been reposted here with permission.