Chocolate cysts: a terrifying time bomb

Ovarian chocolate cyst, also known as ovarian endometriosis cyst, is a disease caused by the endometrium "crossing the ocean" and "immigrating" to the ovary. When menstruation comes, the ectopic endometrium "residing" in the ovary will also have "menstrual"-like bleeding, and the "menstrual blood" cannot be discharged from the body and has to be retained in the ovary. Month after month, year after year, the "menstrual blood" retained in the ovary accumulates more and more, forming a cyst from small to large, which is medically called "ovarian endometriosis cyst". Because the blood in the cyst is old blood that has been retained for a long time and looks like chocolate paste, it is also called "ovarian chocolate cyst".

Most patients are treated with medication

How should chocolate cysts be treated when they bring such great pain to patients? Currently, many drugs are used clinically to treat this disease, such as Neimeitong, Danazol, Guizhi Fuling Capsule and other drugs. Through the action of drugs, patients can temporarily stop menstruating for 3 to 6 months, and the endometrium in the ovaries will not bleed, so the cysts in the ovaries may shrink. During menopause, symptoms such as dysmenorrhea can completely disappear, but it is unlikely that chocolate cysts in the ovaries will completely disappear, and there is still a possibility of recurrence after stopping the drug.

Consider surgery for large cysts

Surgery is a way to cure this disease. Patients with large cysts and ineffective drug treatment should consider surgery. The surgical methods include minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery and laparotomy. For patients over 45 years old, if the chocolate cyst is large and continues to grow, or if the diagnosis is not clear and it is suspected to be a tumor of other nature, laparotomy should be performed, and if necessary, the uterus and ovaries should be removed to achieve the purpose of once and for all. Similarly, for women who do not want to have children, radical treatment can also be taken. Laparoscopic surgery to remove the diseased ovary can also achieve the purpose of alleviating symptoms. For patients who have not given birth, the ovarian function should be preserved as much as possible during surgery, the cyst should be removed, and the good ovary should be left. For women under 50 years old, if one can be preserved, even if it is only half of a healthy ovary, it should be done as much as possible, because the ovary is a relatively important sex hormone secreting tissue.

However, patients can be comforted by the fact that ovarian chocolate cysts are only a type of ovarian tumor-like lesion, and the chances of them turning into malignant tumors are very small.