Uterine Artery Embolization for Pedunculated Subserosal Fibroids: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

To provide a comprehensive overview of the literature assessing the safety and efficacy of uterine artery embolization (UAE) for patients with pedunculated subserosal fibroids.

MEDLINE and Embase databases were searched without language or publication type restrictions for observational studies to estimate safety (adverse events) and efficacy (devascularization, fibroid volume reduction, and uterine volume reduction) outcomes. Case reports were included to qualitatively report adverse events. Meta-analysis was performed for single proportions and mean changes with random-effects modeling.

Of 98 eligible articles, 11 studies were included in the final analysis. Of the adverse events detailed in these cases, 5 events were mild, 2 were moderate (torsion of pedunculated fibroid requiring laparoscopic myomectomy and persistent bleeding after embolization requiring hysterectomy), and 1 was severe (fibroid necrosis causing bowel obstruction requiring bowel resection and hysterectomy). There were no deaths reported in the literature. The pooled risk of adverse events was 1.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.29%-9.2%; 4 of 181; I² = 0%). The pooled devascularization rate was 75.9% (95% CI, 62.4%-85.6%; 140 of 189; I² = 75%) at 3.91 months of follow-up. The percent volume reduction of the dominant pedunculated fibroid was 38.6% (95% CI, 33.0%-44.2%; I² = 0%) at 4.3 months of follow-up. The percent uterine volume reduction was 36.7% (95% CI, 30.3%-43.0%; I² = 47%) at 3.5 months of follow-up.

UAE for pedunculated subserosal fibroids has a low risk of adverse events and effectively reduces fibroid and uterine size.