The long-term effects of endometrioma surgery on ovarian reserve: a prospective case-control study

The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term effects of endometrioma excision on ovarian reserve. This study evaluated the long-term effects of endometrioma excision on ovarian reserve. A total of 63 women were enrolled in this prospective case-control study; 21 women had histories of endometrioma surgery (study group), 21 women had diagnoses of endometrioma, and 21 healthy age-matched women served as controls. Participants were recruited from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Inonu University Faculty of Medicine, between January 2007 and January 2016. The mean follow-up duration after endometrioma surgery was 30.4 ± 18.0 months for the study group. The mean follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and estradiol levels were similar among groups, but the anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) level was significantly lower in the surgery group than in the control group (p < .001). The mean AMH level was 42% lower in the endometrioma surgery group than in the endometrioma group and 30% lower in the endometrioma group than in the control group (p = .080 and p = .160, respectively). Endometrioma has a detrimental effect on ovarian reserve, and decreased ovarian reserve compared with that in healthy fertile subjects without endometrioma is evident shortly after endometrioma excision. However, the endometrioma excision procedure does not significantly decrease the ovarian reserve in the long term.