Endometriosis in Urology – an Update

Abstract

Introduction: Endometriosis represents the aberrant implantation of endometrial tissue, respectively outside the uterus. It is one of the gynecological diseases with a great impact on the patient’s quality of life and especially on the fertility aspects. Due to the aberrant implantation, this disease can theoretically affect any organ in the abdominal and retroperitoneal cavity. Thus, cases involving the organs of the urinary tract are not a surprise. Material and methods: The present paper focuses on the urological impairment of endometriosis, etiology according to various hypotheses and an update of existing treatment methods. The possible proposals of therapeutic guides found in the literature are also taken into account.Results: The urological condition of this disease seems to increase in frequency in recent years. If in the case of asymptomatic patients an expectant attitude can be approached in relative safety, the local invasive nature of the disease, which can lead to the loss of the function of the various organs of the urinary tract, must not be omitted. In the case of symptomatic patients, the treatment is either hormonal or surgical, lately there is a tendency to combine the two types of treatment. Being a condition with relatively rare urological involvement, the differential diagnosis often omits endometriosis. There are currently several plausible guide proposals, but it takes time and richer casuistry to be able to standardize them. From the point of view of surgical treatment, there is a tendency to introduce robotic surgery in the therapeutic arsenal of this disease, both in the case of classical endometriosis and in the case of urological involvement.

Keywords

• urinary endometriosis
• hormonal therapy
• laparoscopic surgery