Adhesions and pain in women with first diagnosis of endometriosis: results from a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the relationship between pain and presence, site, and type of adhesions in women with endometriosis. METHODS: This was a multicenter, observational cross-sectional study. Eligible for the Study were women with endometriosis and pelvic pain, consecutively observed during the study period at the collaborating centers. A total of 574 women entered the study. RESULTS: Adhesions were observed in 81.9% of cases (470 women). The frequency was lower in women with endometriosis at stage I-II (65%) and higher in women with stage III-IV (88%); this difference was statistically significant (p <.01). The frequency of adhesions was lower in women with ovarian endometriosis (74%) and higher in those with ovarian and peritoneal endometriosis (87%) or other sites (96%) (p <.01). The presence of: adhesions was associated with higher mean visual analog scale (VAS) scores and median multidimensional scale ratings in women with ovarian disease and with stage I-II disease. Women with ovarian adhesions reported higher VAS and multidimensional scale scores (p <.05) than women with peritoneal adhesions or adhesions in other sites. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that there is no overall association between the presence of adhesions and the degree of pain in women with endometriosis. The data suggests that there may be an association between adhesions and pain in women with ovarian and Type I-II endometriosis. However, these associations were no longer significant after correction for multiple comparisons. Further research is indicated to test these associations.