Diagnosing endometriosis in adolescents: ultrasound is a game changer

Dysmenorrhea, the cardinal symptom of endometriosis in adolescents, is too often considered an unavoidable rite of passage that girls must soldier through to become a woman. The concept of primary dysmenorrhea with no anatomic cause embodies the paradigm that dysmenorrhea in adolescents is most often a non-material disorder. These beliefs are likely the root cause of the notoriously delayed diagnosis of endometriosis in adolescents. At the heart of the problem is also the reluctance to conduct diagnostic laparoscopy, the gold standard for diagnosing endometriosis, in adolescents for seemingly common symptoms such as dysmenorrhea.
Source: Fertility and Sterility - Category: Reproduction Medicine Authors: Tags: Reflections Source Type: research