Treatment of endometriosis: a study of medical management.

Fifty patients with endometriosis were treated with hormones: 27 with danazol and 23 with Enavid (mestranol 75 micrograms and norethynodrel 5 mg). Side effects were more common and potentially more serious in the group treated with Enavid. Fewer women completed treatment with Enavid and their physical signs showed little improvement. Danazol was better tolerated and the results of treatment, as judged by improvement of symptoms or signs and in future fertility rates, were superior to those recorded in the Enavid treated group. Patients with large endometriotic cysts or severe fibrosis did not benefit from medical treatment. Danazol treatment appeared helpful for women who had mild or moderate endometriotic disease. It may be used alone or as a complimentary treatment after conservative surgical operations.