Influence of laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis and its recurrence on perinatal outcomes

It is unknown whether surgery for endometriosis or recurrence of endometriosis affects obstetric outcomes.

A total of 208 pregnant women with a history of endometriosis were analyzed. Patients who had endometriomas >3 cm and no history of laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis were defined as non-surgery group (n = 60), while those who had a history of surgery for endometriosis (n = 148) were defined as surgery group. We investigated the obstetric outcomes in 208 patients according to with or without postoperative recurrence of endometriosis and the time from surgery to pregnancy.

Among 177 cases of on-going pregnancy, in surgery group, there were lower prevalence of placenta previa compared with non-surgery group (8.5% vs. 23.4%; p = 0.020). Subgroup analysis revealed a decreased prevalence of placenta previa in postoperative non-recurrence group (6.0%: p = 0.007) compared with non-surgery (23.4%) and postoperative recurrence group (28.6%). Placenta previa was more prevalent in the patients who got pregnant more than 2 years after surgery (20.0%) than the patients who got pregnant within 2 years (2.4%: p = 0.002). Multivariate analysis revealed that the surgery was associated with a reduction in placenta previa (OR: 0.32, 95% CI [0.11-0.90]; p = 0.032).

Pregnancy within two years after laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis may reduce placenta previa.