Surgical therapy of ovarian endometrioma: recurrence and pregnancy rates

The study was designed to analyze preoperative clinical and surgical findings at enucleation of ovarian endometrioma with their impact on recurrence and pregnancy rates. This is a retrospective study of 550 histologically verified ovarian endometriomas operated on at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Kiel, Germany, between 1995 and 2004. Preoperative data, surgical findings, and postoperative outcomes of 289 cases were analyzed. The average follow-up period was 12.9 years. Ovarian endometriomas recurred in 23.9% of patients. Risk factors identified for recurrence of endometriomas were preoperative pain (P=.013), dysmenorrhea (P=.013), larger cyst size (>8 cm), younger age (