Different Treatments for Granulomatous Lobular Mastitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Granulomatous lobular mastitis (GLM) is infrequently diagnosed. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of managements for GLM in the nonlactation period.

Publications were retrieved from PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane library on September 10, 2018. We pooled and compared the outcome parameters and complete remission (CR) rates between different treatments using a meta-analysis.

Twenty-one publications including 970 patients treated with surgical excision, steroids, abscess drainage, antibiotics, and observation were included. Surgery significantly improved CR rate compared with steroids (p = 0.0003). There was no difference in the CR rate in patients treated with surgery alone or combined with steroids (p = 0.28). Surgery showed borderline significant efficacy in the CR rate compared with antibiotics (p = 0.06) and abscess drainage (p = 0.06). No difference was observed in effectiveness between observation and surgical management in patients diagnosed with early GLM and mild symptoms.

Although surgery was the ideal management for GLM, steroids and antibiotics might be ideal managements for GLM patients who are worried about surgical scars. Observation was an impressive alternative for patients with early GLM.