The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the effect of oestrogen therapy as a preoperative intervention for improving clinical outcomes and fertility outcomes in women with intrauterine adhesions (IUA). A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, clinicaltrials.gov, OVID and Chinese databases was carried out to identify relevant studies published before December 2019. Outcomes were expressed as odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Five cohort studies with moderate to high methodological quality were included in the meta-analysis. Preoperative oestrogen therapy was strongly associated with better clinical outcome at second-look hysteroscopy (OR 2.72; 95% CI 1.49 to 4.96; P = 0.001); whereas no significant difference was found in menstruation improvement and conception rate (OR 1.45; 95% CI, 0.95 to 2.23; P = 0.09; and OR 0.96; 95% CI 0.60 to 1.54; P = 0.87, respectively). The overall quality of the evidence ranged from moderate to very low. Preoperative oestrogen therapy may improve the short-term prognosis of IUA at second-look hysteroscopy, whereas the long-term prognosis-fertility outcome was similar to the control group. More strictly designed research studies are needed to assess the effectiveness of oestrogen administration before hysteroscopic adhesiolysis.
Keywords: Estrogen therapy; Hysteroscopic adhesiolysis; Intrauterine adhesions; Preoperative therapy; Reproductive outcome.
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