More women referred to specialists for endometriosis testing

Family doctors are referring more and more women who have symptoms that could indicate endometriosis to specialists. General practitioners are becoming more alert when women present with menstrual and abdominal pain complaints, and women are increasingly aware of the condition, NOS reports after speaking to Dutch hospitals.

Endometriosis is a condition in which tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside the uterus. That can lead to abdominal complaints, pelvic pain, and pain during sex. Women who live with the disease for too long can suffer from chronic abdominal pain and, in extreme cases, infertility. About ten percent of women have endometriosis.

According to the latest figures on diagnosis time (2016), the time between the first symptoms and diagnosis in the Netherlands is around 7 years. For a long time, symptoms of endometriosis were dismissed as regular menstrual pain.

Sixteen hospitals told NOS that they are seeing an increase in the number of referrals for endometriosis testing. Gynecologist Ellen Klinkert of the University Medical Center Groningen saw as many patients with endometriosis symptoms in the first half of 2024 as in the whole of 2023.

Gynecologist Huib van Vliet of the Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven told NOS that the increase could increase the speed of diagnosis. “That is desperately needed because the average time between the onset of symptoms and the diagnosis is seven years.”

“What I now see compared to previous years is that general practitioners are referring more young women between the ages of 18 and 24 with complaints consistent with endometriosis,” said Velja Mijatovic, a professor of endometriosis and a gynecologist at the Amsterdam UMC. “It could mean that GPs are more aware of the importance of referring women with symptoms more quickly.”

Mijatovic suspects that is partly due to young women being more aware of the disease. They can find information about it online and take that to their doctor, enabling them to express their concerns better in the consultation room.

“The menstrual cycle is part of the woman’s body,” Mijatovic said. “It has been unclear for a long time what is normal and abnormal in pain around menstruation. If you have to stay home for a few days around your period because the pain is unbearable, you need painkillers, and you have enormous abdominal cramps, this is an indication that something may not be right, and you should sound the alarm.”

Gynecologists and the Endometriosis Foundation are working to create more awareness about the condition. They’re creating an app that asks women about their symptoms, pain, and participation in daily activities to gain more insight into symptoms and the impact of the disease.