ABSTRACT
Background: The incidence of pregnant women with uterine fibroids is increasing. As they are reactive to hormonal stimuli, in some cases, uterine fibroids tend to grow during pregnancy and potentially generate symptoms with different levels of severity, causing maternal-fetal complications. In very select cases, when other treatment strategies fail to manage symptoms and there is a substantial risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, a surgical approach during pregnancy may be considered. Methods: From 2016 to 2021, the data from 28 pregnant women with symptomatic uterine fibroids who underwent laparotomic myomectomy during pregnancy were prospectively collected, and operative and maternal-fetal outcomes were analyzed (ClinicalTrial ID: NCT06009562). Results: The procedure was carried out between 14 and 16 weeks of pregnancy. Four (14.3%) patients had intraoperative complications (miscarriages) and nine (32.1%) had postoperative complications (threatened preterm birth). Overall, 24 (85.7%) women delivered at full term (mean: 38.2 gestational weeks), more than half (n = 13; 54.2%) by vaginal delivery, with normal fetal weights and 1 and 5 min Apgar scores. Conclusions: Laparotomic myomectomy during pregnancy can be considered in selected cases for uterine fibroids with severe symptoms when other treatment options have failed and there is high risk of adverse maternal-fetal outcomes.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate intrauterine adhesion formation after laparoscopic and laparotomic myomectomy. DESIGN: This is a prospective, multicenter, observational study (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04030273). METHODS: We included patients after laparotomic and laparoscopic myomectomy. All patients underwent postsurgical diagnostic hysteroscopy, after 3 months. The intrauterine adhesion rate and associated factors were investigated. RESULTS: Between January 2020 and December 2020, 38 and 24 consecutive patients underwent laparoscopic and laparotomic myomectomy, respectively. All diagnostic hysteroscopies were performed in the office setting without complications. Intrauterine adhesions were identified in 19.4% of women (95% CI: of 9-29%). Factors univariately associated (p < 0.2) with the presence of intrauterine adhesions after myomectomy were previous uterine surgery, the surgical approach (laparoscopic or laparotomic), the number of removed fibroids, the type and diameter of the largest myoma, and the opening of the uterine cavity. In the multivariable analysis, only the opening of the uterine cavity (odds ratio [OR] 51.99; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.53-596.28) and the laparotomic approach (OR, 16.19; 95% CI: 1.66-158.35) were independently associated with the identification of intrauterine adhesions after myomectomy. LIMITATIONS: One of the main limitations of our study is that we used uterine manipulator only in the laparoscopic group; in addition, we did not perform a preoperative hysteroscopy to evaluate the rate of intrauterine adhesions potentially present even before the myomectomy. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of intrauterine adhesions after 3 months from surgery was significantly associated with the opening of the uterine cavity and the laparotomic approach.
