An Update on Endometriosis from the World Congress in Edinburgh

Overview

The 15th World Endometriosis Congress, held in Edinburgh in May 2023, brought together the world's leading researchers and clinicians in endometriosis care, and the findings presented have significant implications for how rehabilitation clinicians understand and treat this condition.

Endometriosis affects 10% of people assigned female at birth, yet it remains one of the most underdiagnosed conditions encountered in pelvic health and musculoskeletal practice. The complexity of its pain presentations, combined with its frequent co-occurrence with conditions like low back pain, IBS, bladder dysfunction, and fibromyalgia, makes it a condition that every clinician treating persistent pain needs to understand more deeply.

In this online course, Jill Mueller and Carolyn Vandyken distil the key clinical takeaways from the World Congress, drawing on presentations by global leaders including Professor Lorimer Moseley, Dr. Mathew Leonardi, Dr. Daniel Clauw, and Dr. Catherine Allaire. 

The course translates cutting-edge research into practical clinical guidance: covering diagnosis, treatment options, phenotyping, non-surgical therapies, and the growing recognition of the rehabilitation clinician's essential role in endometriosis care.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Explain why not everyone with endometriosis experiences pain, and describe the role of pain system hypersensitivity and nociplastic pain mechanisms in endometriosis presentations.
   
   
2. Compare the advantages and limitations of ultrasound, MRI, and surgery as diagnostic and treatment tools for endometriosis.
   
   
3. Describe the four endometriosis pain phenotypes and explain how they direct evidence-based treatment selection.
   
   
4. Identify non-pharmacological and non-surgical treatment approaches supported by current evidence, including the role of physiotherapy, psychology, and dietetics.
   
   
5. Recognize the role of digital health tools in endometriosis screening and monitoring.
   
   
6. Articulate the rehabilitation clinician's role in advocating for and delivering earlier, more comprehensive care for people with endometriosis.

Audience

This course is intended for physiotherapists, pelvic OTs, and any rehabilitation clinician who treats people assigned female at birth with persistent pain — recognizing that at least 10% of this population will have endometriosis. It is equally suited to clinicians who are new to endometriosis and want a current, evidence-based foundation, and to those with existing pelvic health experience who want to update their knowledge with the latest research from the World Congress.

Why This Course Matters

One of the most important findings from the World Congress is also one of the most clinically actionable: endometriosis frequently does not respond to medical management alone — and when it doesn't, it is often because nociplastic pain mechanisms are driving symptoms, not just the tissue.

This means that for a significant proportion of patients, the rehabilitation clinician is not an adjunct to care: they are central to it.

This course also addresses the diagnostic landscape honestly. Surgery remains the only definitive method to confirm and remove endometriosis, but it comes with significant limitations including wait times, recurrence rates, and variable surgical expertise. Understanding where ultrasound, MRI, and medication fit, and where they fall short, helps clinicians have more informed conversations with their patients and their referring physicians. The World Endometriosis Organization now formally recognizes that physiotherapists, psychotherapists, and dietitians should be involved earlier in treatment. 

This course explains why, and what that looks like in practice.