True Prevalence of Diaphragmatic Endometriosis and Its Association with Severe Endometriosis: A Call for Awareness and Investigation

Study Objective: To identify characteristics indicating preoperatively the presence of diaphragmatic endometriosis (DE).

Design: Comparison of characteristics of patients with diaphragmatic endometriosis (DE) with characteristics of patients with abdominal endometriosis without diaphragmatic involvement, in a prospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary referral center; endometriosis center.

Patients: A total of 1372 patients with histologically proven endometriosis.

Interventions: Surgery performed laparoscopically under general anesthesia. All patients with suspected endometriosis underwent a complete bilateral inspection of the diaphragm.

Measurements And Main Results: Demographic and clinical pathologic characteristics were evaluated using basic descriptive statistics (comparison of the groups using the χ2 test and the Mann-Whitney t test). A logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship (hazard ratio) between symptoms and the presence of DE. DE was diagnosed in 4.7% of the patients (65 of 1372). There was no significant difference between the 2 groups (patients with abdominal endometriosis with or without DE) with regard to typical endometriosis pain (dysmenorrhea, dyschezia, dysuria, and/or dyspareunia). However, in the DE group, diaphragmatic pain was present significantly more often preoperatively (27.7% vs 1.8%, p <.001). Four DE patients (6.1 %) were asymptomatic (with infertility the indication for surgery). In the DE group, 78.4 % had advanced stages of endometriosis (revised American Fertility Society III° or IV°); the left lower pelvis was affected in more patients (73.8%). In cases of ovarian endometriosis, patients with DE showed a significantly higher prevalence of left ovaries involvement (left 63% vs right 35.7%, p <.001). Patients with DE had a significantly higher rate of infertility (49.2% vs 28.7%, p <.05).

Conclusion: Patients with shoulder pain, infertility, and/or endometriosis in the left pelvis have a significant higher risk of DE and therefore need specific preoperative counseling and if indicated surgical treatment.