Can endometriosis cause infertility?

Can endometriosis cause infertility? Endometriosis is relatively common in clinical practice. Almost one in 10 women suffers from endometriosis. The typical symptom of endometriosis is dysmenorrhea. Some patients also have pain during sexual intercourse, but many patients do not have any serious symptoms and therefore ignore treatment. But did you know that endometriosis is closely related to infertility?

Endometriosis can affect fertility, but it does not mean that endometriosis will lead to infertility, especially for mild patients, the chance of pregnancy is not much different from that of normal people. Even severe endometriosis can lead to natural pregnancy. But as endometriosis becomes more severe, scar tissue (adhesions) becomes more common, and the chances of conceiving naturally decrease.

Let’s look at the following data:

Of 100 women without endometriosis who try to get pregnant for a year, 84 will become pregnant.

Of 100 women with mild endometriosis who try to get pregnant for a year, 75 will get pregnant.

If 100 women with moderate endometriosis try to get pregnant for a year, 50 will get pregnant.

If 100 women with severe endometriosis try to get pregnant for a year, 25 will get pregnant.

Endometriosis can affect fertility. In 2010, Dr. Edison, an obstetrician and gynecologist in the United States, developed the Endometriosis Fertility Index as an indicator for assessing the fertility of patients with endometriosis. This index not only takes into account the patient's age, years of infertility, and medical history such as pregnancy and childbirth history, but also considers examination results such as the functional status of the fallopian tubes, fallopian tube fimbriae, and ovaries to predict the chance of natural conception. The patient's endometriosis fertility index (EFI) value of 9-10 is the highest, indicating the highest potential for natural conception, with a 55% chance of pregnancy within one year and a 74% natural pregnancy rate within 3 years; while those with a low endometriosis fertility index (EFI, 0-3) have a pregnancy rate of less than 10%.

After knowing the relationship between endometriosis and infertility, it is recommended that all patients who have been trying to conceive for half a year and still have not gotten pregnant should seek timely treatment regardless of whether they have symptoms or not. Only in this way will it not affect pregnancy and childbearing. Of course, this does not mean that patients with endometriosis who have already given birth do not need treatment. As long as the disease has symptoms, treatment is needed.