Objective  To determine current practice regarding laparoscopic diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis. Design  A prospective questionnaire survey. Setting  The United Kingdom. Population  All 1411 UK consultant gynaecologists identified from a Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists database. Methods  A postal questionnaire was sent to all consultants with reply paid envelopes. A postal reminder was sent three months following the initial questionnaire. Main outcome measure  Current practice for the laparoscopic diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis and willingness to participate in a randomised trial. Results  The response rate was 66% (893/1411). Diagnostic laparoscopy was performed by 87% (772/893) of respondents. Seventy‐six percent of these (58/772) were confident to visually diagnose endometriosis and 6% (47/772) routinely verified the diagnosis histologically. Laparoscopic surgery was routinely undertaken by 41% (318/772) of respondents. Ablative therapy was the most frequently employed technique utilised [620/653 (95%)] and electrodiathermy was the most popular energy modality (80%). Among respondents expressing a preference, excision of disease was believed to be more effective, but less safe compared with ablation. One‐third of respondents (273/893) were willing to enter patients into a randomised controlled trial to compare laparoscopic treatments for pelvic pain associated with endometriosis. Conclusion  Laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis associated with pelvic pain is routinely undertaken by a large number of UK consultant gynaecologists, but techniques used and beliefs about efficacy vary. In view of this division of opinion regarding the relative roles of laparoscopic treatment methods, a randomised trial comparing the efficacy and safety of these methods is urgently needed.

The value of routine follow-up in secondary care for cancer patients has been widely questioned. Within our network cancer centre for gynaecological malignancies current follow-up protocols have been associated with delays in diagnosing recurrence. The aim of this study was to ascertain general practitioners' (GPs') attitudes and feasibility of randomisation for a pilot randomised controlled trial to evaluate follow-up of patients treated for gynaecological malignancy. There was a 78% response rate to the postal questionnaire; overall, GP attitudes were positive, with randomisation seeming feasible. We await the results from the pilot trial.

Background: Response rates to postal questionnaires are falling and this threatens the external validity of survey findings. We wanted to establish whether the incentive of being entered into a prize draw to win a personal digital assistant (PDA) would increase the response rate for a national survey of consultant obstetricians and gynaecologists.