Clinical experience of long-term use of dienogest after surgery for ovarian endometrioma.

OBJECTIVE: Endometriosis is a common and recurring gynecologic disease which have afflicting females of reproductive age. We investigated the efficacy of long-term, post-operative use of dienogest for ovarian endometrioma. METHODS: We studied 203 patients who had undergone laparoscopic or robotic surgery for ovarian endometrioma, and were administrated dienogest 2 mg/day beginning in July of 2013, and continuing. We evaluated side effects of dienogest and ultrasonography was performed every 6 months to detect potential recurrence of endometrioma (2 cm) in these post-surgical patients. RESULTS: The follow-up observation periods were 30.2±20.9 months from surgery. The mean age was 34.1±7.2 years old. The mean diameter of pre-operative endometrioma was 5.6±3.0 cm2. One hundred eighty-two (89.7%) women received dienogest continuously for 12.0±7.1 months. Of the subjects, 21 (10.3%) patients discontinued dienogest at 2.4±1.0 months. The most common side effect when dienogest was discontinued was abnormal uterine bleeding. The occurrence rate of vaginal bleeding was 15.8%, a number which did not differ significantly in patients with/without post-operative gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist administration. The other side effects were gastrointestinal trouble including constipation, acne, headache, depression, hot flush, weight gain, and edema. However, no serious adverse events or side effects were documented and recurrent endometriomas were diagnosed in 3 patients (1.5%). CONCLUSION: The data indicates that dienogest was both tolerable and safe for long-term use as prophylaxis in an effort to obviate the recurrence of ovarian endometrioma post-operatively, as well as potential need for surgical re-intervention.

Robotic Single-Site Myomectomy: Clinical Analysis of 61 Consecutive Cases.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To report 61 consecutive cases of successful robotic single-site myomectomy (RSSM), and to evaluate the feasibility and safety of RSSM. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of 61 cases involving RSSM (Canadian Task Force classification III). SETTING: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, Robot Surgery Center, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. PATIENTS: Sixty-one patients who underwent RSSM performed by 3 gynecologic surgeons at Ewha Womans University between December 2014 and May 2016. INTERVENTIONS: We analyzed the patients' baseline characteristics and surgical variables and the trends in operation-related variables according to surgeon's level of experience with RSSM. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: There were no cases of conversion to laparotomy or robotic multisite myomectomy. RSSM was successful for multiple uterine myomas up to 12 in number and for large myomas up to 12.8 cm in longest diameter. In terms of myoma location, RSSM was successful for all types of myomas, including subserosal, intramural, and intraligamentary. The mean docking time was 5.45 ± 2.84 minutes (2.0∼12.0 minutes), mean total operation time was 135.98 ± 59.62 minutes (60∼295 minutes), mean estimated blood loss was 182.62 ± 153.02 mL (10∼600 mL), and mean skin incision length was 2.70 ± 0.19 cm (2.4∼3.10 cm). The mean time to postoperative gas passage was 28.71 ± 12.99 hours (3.33∼76.50 hours), and the mean duration of hospitalization was 4.21 ± 0.84 days (3∼6 days). No patient required additional analgesics other than applied intravenous patient-controlled analgesia. The mean change in hemoglobin level was 2.43 ± 0.87 g/dL, and the incidence of postoperative anemia requiring blood transfusion was only 3.3% (2 cases). No intraoperative or perioperative complications were noted. CONCLUSION: RSSM is a feasible and safe procedure even in cases large, multiple, and intramural type myomas. Therefore, this option could be extended to appropriately selected patients.