Ulipristal Acetate Before Hysteroscopic Myomectomy: A Systematic Review

Uterine leiomyomas, also referred to as myomas or fibroids, are the most common benign tumors of the reproductive tract. Ulipristal acetate (UPA) is an active selective progesterone receptor modulator used as preoperative treatment for uterine myomas.

The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the literature about the effects of UPA administration before hysteroscopic myomectomy. The clinical question in "PICO" format was in patients affected by uterine myomas undergoing operative hysteroscopic management, "Does UPA impact the surgical outcomes?"

We performed a systematic literature search in PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase for original studies written in English (registered in PROSPERO CRD42018092201), using the terms "hysteroscopy" AND "ulipristal acetate" published up to March 2019. Original articles about UPA treatment before hysteroscopic myomectomy (randomized, observational, retrospective studies) were considered eligible.

Our literature search produced 32 records. After exclusions, 4 studies were considered eligible for analysis. Results show that UPA does not worsen the overall technical difficulty of hysteroscopic myomectomy. Moreover, it may increase the chance of complete primary myomectomy in complex hysteroscopic procedures.

Despite the positive results presented in this systematic review, low-quality evidence exists yet on the impact of UPA treatment before hysteroscopic myomectomy. High-quality prospective randomized controlled trials are required to establish the impact of UPA on surgical outcomes of patients treated for uterine myomas by hysteroscopy. Moreover, long-term outcomes of myomectomies after UPA treatment (such as frequency of myoma recurrence, recovery time, and quality of life) should be determined.