The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has approved two new tests, EndoSure and Endotest, for use on the NHS to speed up the diagnosis of endometriosis. The move matters because women currently wait an average of more than nine years for a diagnosis, and the tests can be carried out in a GP surgery rather than requiring lengthy specialist referrals and invasive procedures.

Endotest analyses a saliva sample in a laboratory for tiny biological markers called microRNAs that indicate the condition, while EndoSure detects it by measuring electrical signals in the gut using sensor pads on the abdomen, with patients fasting beforehand and drinking water during the test. Endometriosis, in which cells similar to the womb lining grow elsewhere in the body, affects around one in ten women of reproductive age in the UK. The draft recommendation approves both tests for three years, during which further evidence will be gathered on how well they perform.