A proof of concept that experience-based management of endometriosis can complement evidence-based guidelines

background: management of endometriosis should be based on the best available evidence. the pyramid of evidence reflects unbiased observations analysed with traditional statistics. evidence-based medicine (EBM) is the clinical interpretation of these data by experts. unfortunately, traditional statistical inference can refute but cannot confirm a hypothesis and clinical experience is considered a personal opinion. objectives: a proof of concept to document clinical experience by considering each diagnosis and treatment as an experiment with an outcome, which is used to update subsequent management. materials and methods: experience and knowledge-based questions were answered on a 0 to 10 visual analogue scale (VAS) by surgery-oriented clinicians with experience of > 50 surgeries for endometriosis. results: the answers reflect the collective clinical experience of managing >10.000 women with endometriosis. experience-based management was overall comparable as approved by >75% of answers rated >= 8/10 VAS. Knowledge-based management was more variable, reflecting debated issues and differences between experts and non-experts. conclusions: the collective experience-based management of those with endometriosis is similar for surgery -oriented clinicians. results do not conflict with EBM and are a bayesian prior, to be confirmed, refuted or updated by further observations. what is new? collective experience-based management can be measured and is more than a personal opinion. this might extend EBM trial results to the entire population and add data difficult to obtain in RCTs, such as many aspects of surgery.