• T Z Jacobson, D H Barlow, P R Koninckx, D Olive, and C Farquhar.
• Barts and the London NHS Trust Fertility Centre, 2nd Floor, KGV Block, St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, London, UK, EC1A 7BE. tal.jacobson@virgin.net
• Cochrane Db Syst Rev. 2002 Jan 1(4):CD001398.

BackgroundEndometriosis is the presence of endometrial glands or stroma in sites other than the uterine cavity. It is variable in both its surgical appearance and clinical manifestation often with poor correlation between the two. Surgical treatment of endometriosis aims to remove visible areas of endometriosis and restore anatomy by division of adhesions.ObjectivesTo assess the efficacy of laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of subfertility associated with endometriosis. The review aims to compare outcomes of laparoscopic surgical interventions compared to no treatment or medical treatment with regard to improved fertility.Search StrategyWe searched the Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Group's specialised register of trials (searched Feb 2000), the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (The Cochrane Library, Issue 2, 2000), MEDLINE (1966-July 2001), EMBASE (1980-July 2001), the National Research Register (Issue 1, 2000) and reference lists of articles.Selection CriteriaTrials were selected if they were randomised and compared the effectiveness of laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of subfertility associated with endometriosis versus other treatment modalities or placebo.Data Collection And AnalysisTwo studies had data appropriate for inclusion within the review. These studies compared laparoscopic surgical treatment of minimal and mild endometriosis compared with diagnostic laparoscopy only. The recorded outcomes included live birth, pregnancy, fetal losses and complications of surgery.Main ResultsMeta-analysis of the two randomised trials show improvement in infertility associated with endometriosis with laparoscopic surgery. The largest trial (Marcoux 1997) clearly supports this outcome with an increased chance of pregnancy (OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.28 to 3.24) and ongoing pregnancy rate after 20 weeks (OR 1.95, 95% CI 1.18 to 3.22) but the smaller trial (Gruppo Italiano 1999) does not show benefit (pregnancy OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.31 to 1.88; livebirth OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.32 to 2.28). Combining ongoing pregnancy and live birth rates there was a statistically significant increase with surgery (OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.05 to 2.57).Reviewer's ConclusionsThe use of laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of minimal and mild endometriosis may improve success rates. The relevant trials have some methodological problems and further research in this area is needed.

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