Endometriosis can be diagnosed by blood tests, imaging studies, or pelvic examinations.

There are many ways a physician may begin to suspect that a woman has Endometriosis.  A review of her pain, symptoms, and medical history; a pelvic examination; ultrasounds or MRIs; and blood tests.  But can these tests actually confirm a diagnosis of Endometriosis?

No.

The only “golden standard,” tried-and-true method of confirming the presence of Endometriosis is surgically opening a woman’s abdomen, peeking inside, and seeing the presence of the implants, lesions, and/or adhesions.  A study published on July 13, 2016 concludes, again, that surgery is the “golden standard” method of diagnosing Endometriosis.  It further states that these non-invasive tools should only be used in a research setting…

Presently, there are ongoing studies and research to develop non-invasive ways of being able to confirm Endometriosis; however, those end results are long off.