Laparoscopic ovarian electrocautery versus gonadotropin therapy in infertile women with clomiphene citrate-resistant polycystic ovary syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Some trials have compared laparoscopic ovarian drilling (LOD) with gonadotropins but, because of variations in study design and small sample size, the results are inconsistent and definitive conclusions about the relative efficacy of LOD and gonadotropins cannot be extracted from the individual studies.

To evaluate the relative efficacy of LOD and gonadotropins for infertile women with clomiphene citrate- resistant poly cystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

A complete electronic literature search in databases including EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library and Google scholar for some specific keywords was accomplished. We contained randomized clinical trials comparing outcomes between LOD, without medical ovulation induction, and gonadotropins.

Six trials, covering 499 women, reported on the primary outcome of pregnancy rate. There was no evidence of a difference in pregnancy rate when LOD compared with gonadotropins (OR: 0.534; 95% CI: 0.242-1.176, p=0.119, 6 trials, 499 women, I2=73.201%). There was evidence of significantly fewer live births following LOD compared with gonadotropin (OR: 0.446; 95% CI: 0.269-0.74, p=0.02, 3 trials, 318 women, I2=3.353%). The rate of multiple pregnancies was significantly lower in the LOD arm compared to the gonadotropins arm (OR: 0.127; 95% CI: 0.028-0.579, p=0.008, 3 trials, 307 women, I2=0%).

Our result revealed that there was no evidence of a significant difference in rates of clinical pregnancy and miscarriage in women with clomiphene citrate-resistant PCOS undergoing LOD compared to the gonadotropin arm. The decrease in multiple pregnancies rate in women undergoing LOD makes this option attractive. The increase in live birth rate in the gonadotropin group may be because of the higher rate of multiple pregnancies in these women. However, more focus on the long-term effects of LOD on ovarian function is suggested.