Maintenance dienogest therapy following adjuvant gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist treatment after uterus-sparing surgery in adenomyosis: A retrospective cohort study

ObjectiveTo investigate the safety and efficacy of adjuvant gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) treatment followed by maintenance dienogest (DNG) therapy after uterus-sparing surgery. MethodsRetrospective cohort study. A total of 190 patients with severe adenomyosis underwent uterus-sparing surgery between January 2010 and June 2020. Of these patients, 90 were analyzed. Forty-six patients (control group) received adjuvant 6-month GnRH-a therapy alone after uterus-sparing surgery, and 44 patients (maintenance group) received postoperative 6-month GnRH-a treatment followed by maintenance DNG therapy (2 mg/day orally). The median follow-up period was 18 months. The study was analyzed using generalized estimating equations. ResultsAt baseline, the characteristics of patients in each group were comparable. Compared with the control group, the maintenance group had a significant improvement in the visual analog scale score of dysmenorrhea (P < 0.001), hemoglobin level (P = 0.004), and uterine volume (P = 0.004) from baseline to 18 months after uterus-sparing surgery. The symptom recurrence rate was significantly lower in the maintenance group than in the control group (4.6% vs. 37.0%, P < 0.001). ConclusionsThe findings of this study suggest that combinatorial treatment with GnRH-a (adjuvant treatment) and DNG (maintenance therapy) represents a safe and effective short-term therapy after uterus-sparing surgery for adenomyosis.

Automated summary

This retrospective cohort study investigated the safety and efficacy of adjuvant GnRH-a treatment followed by maintenance DNG therapy after uterus-sparing surgery for adenomyosis. The results showed that combination treatment with GnRH-a and DNG significantly improved pain symptoms, hemoglobin level, and uterine volume, and had a lower symptom recurrence rate.