Endometriosis is an extremely common, benign but very disabling condition responsible for chronic pain and/or infertility. In France, it affects 10 to 15% of women of childbearing age. A severe alteration in personal and work quality of life can result from this.
The HCL offers a multidisciplinary care pathway for endometriosis, from diagnosis to medical and surgical treatments, including assisted reproduction. Its teams are committed to promoting early diagnosis and offering innovative management.
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Towards a gentler approach to care
“The focused ultrasound allows targeting and destroying lesions in a few minutes, without incision or scarring. Patients leave the hospital a few hours after treatment, with a rapid reduction in pain and without impairment of their fertility,” explains Professor Gil DUBERNARD, head of the department.
Innovation in surgical treatment of endometriosis
The gynecology-obstetrics department of the Croix-Rousse hospital is a pioneer in the use of HIFU waves to treat endometriosis with rectal involvement. Developed with INSERM (LabTAU) and EDAP-TMS, this minimally invasive technique differs from traditional methods: within minutes, it allows rapid recovery, immediate pain reduction, and preservation of fertility. Since March 2025, the HCL has been offering this treatment routinely, with the capacity to treat up to 100 patients in the first year.
Learn more: Use of HIFU waves to treat endometriosis
“At a time when medical treatments are being questioned (due to the risk of meningiomas with progestin treatments in particular), surgery will naturally play an increasingly important role in its management. Therefore, we must consider less aggressive surgical treatments and more personalized approaches to treat this disease, which let’s not forget is a functional disease that will improve at menopause,” explains Professor Gil DUBERNARD, head of the gynecology-obstetrics department at the Croix-Rousse hospital, and vice president of ENDAURA.
Endodol: innovation for endometriosis with the HCL Foundation
Through the EndoDol project with the HCL Foundation, the team of the gynecology-obstetrics department of the Croix-Rousse hospital has teamed up with professionals from the Consultation for Evaluation and Treatment of Chronic Pain, to offer women suffering from endometriosis an innovative treatment. This is currently the only one in the Rhône-Alpes region that emphasizes psychological support and the gentle and progressive remobilization of patients. It aims to offer each woman a coordinated intra-hospital pathway, combining medical treatment with a non-pharmacological approach (psycho-corporal techniques) involving individual and group sessions.
Learn more: Endometriosis: towards a less aggressive approach
Improve the relevance of diagnosis
A clinical examination, ultrasound, and pelvic MRI are effective tools when performed by experts. However, sometimes it takes several years before a diagnosis is made.
Experimentation of the Endotest®
The Ministry of Health recently selected 80 healthcare facilities to test the Endotest®, an innovative saliva test for diagnosing endometriosis. In this context, the HCL plays a key role with the participation of two hospitals: Lyon Sud and Croix-Rousse.
Three day hospitals for personalized diagnosis and management
The HCL, very committed to endometriosis management, has recently set up a comprehensive and personalized care pathway for treating this condition. Patients can now benefit, in a single day and at the same location, from a thorough diagnosis and a treatment plan. This new pathway is available through referral to the gynecology-obstetrics services at the Croix-Rousse, Femme Mère Enfant, and Lyon Sud hospitals.
A regional care pathway to improve women’s journey
First regional pilot pathway for endometriosis in France, the EndAURA association aims to improve women’s journey, optimize care relevance, inform patients and professionals, and promote research. It brings together endometriosis professionals from public and private structures across the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, as well as general practitioners, midwives, and patient associations EndoFrance and Endomind.
EndAURA is chaired by Professor François GOLFIER of the gynecology-obstetrics department at Lyon Sud Hospital, president of the national endometriosis commission of the French College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and responsible for the MOOC Endometriosis.
At the Femme Mère Enfant Hospital, fertility is preserved in the long term
The gynecology-obstetrics department of the HFME plays a strategic role, especially through its emergency gynecological consultation service (over 12,000 visits per year) and its proximity to the pediatric department (adolescent endometriosis). The team of gynecologists at the Femme Mère Enfant Hospital promotes a multidisciplinary collaboration in the diagnostic and therapeutic management of patients with endometriosis.
The reproductive medicine and fertility preservation service of Professor Bruno SALLE organizes the management of endometriosis both surgically and through in vitro fertilization and oocyte vitrification, to preserve fertility in the long term in cases of ovarian insufficiency or required surgery.
