The oral progestin Visanne May Reduce the Rate of Recurrence After Endometriosis Surgery
Jun 19, 2023
The oral progestin "Vissane" effect seems to be similar to GnRHa in reducing the recurrence rate of cysts following endometriosis surgery.
Key Points
Highlights:
- The oral progestin Visanne is similar to GnRHa in reducing the recurrence rate of cysts following endometriosis surgery and is better than a placebo.
Importance:
- The findings of the review suggest that this medication is a safe and effective method of prevention of postoperative disease and pain recurrence after surgery for endometriosis.
What’s done here:
- Researchers conducted a literature review and meta-analysis of the literature to determine whether Visanne reduces the risk of recurrence after endometriosis surgery compared to placebo or other treatments.
Key results:
- Visanne significantly reduced the rate of recurrence of cysts after endometriosis surgery compared to placebo.
- There was no statistically significant difference in terms of the recurrence of cysts following endometriosis surgery between Visanne and GnRHa.
- Visanne treatment resulted in a trend toward pain reduction 6 months after endometriosis surgery compared to placebo.
- Visanne led to a significant increase in the rate of spotting and weight gain compared to GnRHa but the rate of hot flashes and the incidence of vaginal dryness were lower with Visanne.
Limitations:
- Randomized trials included in the analysis were few in number and sometimes poor in quality.
- The definition of recurrence and follow-up were heterogeneous between studies.
- These findings are valid only for patients who underwent surgery for endometriosis.
Lay Summary
The oral progestin Vissane (dienogest) is better than a placebo and similar to gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa) in reducing the rate of recurrence following endometriosis surgery, found a new study published in the scientific journal Reproductive Sciences. Visanne was also associated with a lower rate of hot flashes and showed a trend toward a lower incidence of vaginal dryness compared to GnRHa.
The results show that the drug appears as a safe and effective method of prevention of postoperative disease and pain recurrence after surgery for endometriosis and is better compared to a placebo or no medical treatment.
Researchers from Italy analyzed a total of 9 studies that included 1668 patients. These studies showed that Visanne treatment significantly reduced the rate of recurrence of cysts following endometriosis surgery compared to placebo. Some studies that were performed on a total of 191 patients compared the effect of Visanne treatment to that of GnRHa on the rate of recurrence of cysts. However, these reported no statistically significant difference between the two treatments.
There was also a trend toward pain reduction six months after endometriosis surgery in patients treated with Visanne compared to those given a placebo. The studies reported a significant increase in the rate of spotting and weight gain with Visanne treatment compared to GnRHa. However, Visanne was associated with a lower rate of hot flashes and a lower incidence of vaginal dryness.
