Staffordshire hospital trust to launch endometriosis study

A Staffordshire hospital trust has been awarded £250,000 to research a new method for treating endometriosis.

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) bosses said they aim to improve treatment for patients as a result of the study, which is being run in partnership with Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

The two-year project will involve 70 patients recruited across the two sites.

It will compare the use of stents – surgical tubes used to open up the body’s passageways – with a new technique of using a small catheter to insert a green dye.

Clinicians believe the new approach may significantly reduce patients’ pain, surgical complications and recovery time.

“This is a trial we’re passionate about because it has real potential to change how we do this surgery, both here at UHNM and internationally,” said consultant gynaecologist Gourab Misra, who is the trial’s chief investigator.

“It’s about giving our patients the best possible experience and outcomes,” he said.

Endometriosis is a common but debilitating condition where tissue similar to the womb lining grows outside the uterus, often causing severe pelvic pain and infertility.

Surgery for deep endometriosis was complex, Mr Misra said, and carried a risk of damaging the delicate tubes connecting the kidneys to the bladder.

He added that while surgeons used stents to protect the tubes, these could cause significant pain as well as bleeding and needed a second procedure to remove them.

During the trial, patients who take part will be randomly allocated either the conventional stent or the dye-based technique.

A future rollout of the trial could later see the technique adopted across the NHS and globally, those behind the project said.