Background

Endometriosis (ICD-10 N80) is a complex, benign neoplastic, gynecological disease with ectopic growth of endometrium-like tissue that affects around 170 million women worldwide; around 40,000 new cases are observed annually only in Germany. It manifests itself with dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia and chronic pelvic pain up to infertility. There are three main types of endometriosis: peritoneal endometriosis, ovarian endometriosis and deep infiltrating endometriosis depending on different location of ectopic endometrial tissue in the peritoneal cavity. Diagnosis is currently always invasive. Treatment for pain relief, prevention of recurrence, and maintenance of fertility includes nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and hormonal approaches. Due to the high individual variability and unspecific symptoms, which can also be related to other diseases, it takes an average of seven