Long-term follow-up and recurrence rate after mesorectum-sparing bowel resection among women with rectovaginal endometriosis.

Objective: To demonstrate the quality of a combined vaginal-abdominal surgical approach to rectovaginal endometriosis by analyzing long-term outcome and recurrence rates.

Methods: In a prospective cohort study in Berlin, Germany, women with endometriosis of the rectovaginal septum were enrolled between September 2004 and December 2012. Bowel infiltration was verified intraoperatively and treated by a nerve-sparing, mesentery-preserving vaginal-abdominal operative approach.