An observational, prospective, multicenter study conducted on patients of childbearing age undergoing laparoscopic surgery for early-stage benign or malignant gynecological disease. The study does not include changes to the standard care pathway.
patients who need to undergo gynecological surgery with a laparoscopic approach for benign pathology (endometriosis, uterine fibroids, adenomyosis, chronic pelvic pain, benign ovarian cysts) or non-advanced malignant pathology (stage I endometrium and cervix, stage I and II ovary).
patients who performed a level II gynecological ultrasound with an experienced operator in the preoperative pathway.
technical possibility of performing a transvaginal ultrasound and the patient's willingness to undergo such an investigation.
patients of childbearing age (18 - 50 years).
presence of endometriosis deeply infiltrating the posterior compartment. This may interfere with the interpretation of uterosacral ligament (LUS) thickness as a specific marker of superficial endometriosis
technical impossibility of performing a transvaginal ultrasound (patient virgo, patient refusal).
incomplete ultrasound evaluation of the uterosacral ligaments for anatomical reasons or for the presence of endometriosis nodules from other sites with partial involvement of the LUS (uterosacral ligament).
advanced malignant disease (>Stage I for endometrium and cervix, > Stage II for ovary)