Effect of Postoperative Hormonal Suppression on Fertility in Patients With Endometriosis After Conservative Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

E. Richard, Evelyne Richard, Évelyne Richard, Richard E, Morin J, Jessica Morin, Ally Murji, Murji A, Madeleine Lemyre, Lemyre M, Philippe Y. Laberge, Laberge PY, Maheux-Lacroix S, Sarah Maheux-Lacroix, Sarah Maheux‐Lacroix
Obstetrics and gynecology · 2022 · vol. 139(6) , pp. 1169–1179 · doi:10.1097/aog.0000000000004811 · PMID:35675616 · W4281620967
meta-analysis OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 5 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This systematic review found that postoperative hormonal suppression after conservative endometriosis surgery, particularly GnRH agonists for at least three months, may increase pregnancy chances without affecting live births.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of hormonal suppression on fertility when administered to infertile patients or patient wishing to conceive after surgery for endometriosis. DATA SOURCES: A systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL and ClinicalTrials.gov was performed by two independent reviewers from the databases' inception until December 2020. METHODS OF STUDY SELECTION: We included randomized controlled trials comparing any suppressive hormonal therapy to an inactive control (placebo or absence of treatment) after conservative surgery for endometriosis. Studies that did not report fertility outcomes after surgery were excluded. TABULATION, INTEGRATION AND RESULTS: This systematic review and meta-analysis was registered in PROSPERO. Two reviewers extracted data and assessed the risk of bias as well as the strength of evidence using GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) methodology. PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) guidelines were followed. Relative risks (RRs) were pooled by quantitative random effect meta-analysis. From 3,138 citations, 19 trials (2,028 patients) were included. Overall, no difference was observed between the treatment and the control group for pregnancy (RR 1.15; 95% CI 1.00-1.32) and live births (RR 1.05; 95% CI 0.84-1.32). When pooling all hormonal therapies, the duration of administration of postoperative therapy was identified as a substantial source of heterogeneity between studies (I2 difference=74%) with increased chances of pregnancy compared with control when administered for at least 3 months (RR 1.22; 95% CI 1.04-1.43). Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists (14 trials, 1,721 patients) were associated with increased chances of pregnancy compared with placebo or no treatment (RR 1.20; 95% CI 1.03-1.41; I2=25%). Data were limited for other hormonal treatments with no significant difference between groups. Subgroup analyses taking into account the use of fertility treatments (insemination or in vitro fertilization), stages of the disease and risk of bias of included trials did not modify the results. CONCLUSION: Postoperative hormonal suppression should be considered on a case-by-case basis to enhance fertility while balancing this benefit with the risks of delaying conception. If chosen, GnRH agonists would be the treatment of choice, and a duration of at least 3 months should be favored. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO, CRD42021224424.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (52)

Cited by (7)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-09-13T06:11:40.775766+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-07-01T06:12:08.234553+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-09-12T07:21:10.926195+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK