Abdominal wall endometriosis following cesarean section: a study of the growth rate of parietal endometriosis implants.

BACKGROUND

The study aimed to estimate the growth rate of abdominal wall endometriosis (AWE) following cesarean section (CS), in order to potentially identify a growth model of endometriosis in vivo.

METHODS

This monocentric, retrospective study included 23 patients presenting 26 nodules of post-CS AWE treated by surgical excision. Nodule surface and volume, time-lapse between surgery and AWE as well as the contraception used were noted. A comparison between nodules' features was performed depending on hormonal vs. non-hormonal contraception.

RESULTS

The time-lapse between CS and AWE surgery had a mean value of 48 months. The mean surface of an AWE nodule was of 3.83 cm2, and the mean volume was of 5.32 cm3. Comparison between the main surface and volume in patients receiving hormonal vs. non-hormonal contraception was statistically non-significant. No statistically significant correlation between AWE dimension and time was revealed. In patients presenting more than one lesion, nodules appeared to grow following variable patterns.

CONCLUSIONS

AWE natural history was characterized by inter- and intra-individual variability, independently of the method of contraception used.