Progestins in the symptomatic management of endometriosis: a meta-analysis on their effectiveness and safety

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is a complex chronic disease that affects approximately 10% of women of reproductive age worldwide and commonly presents with pelvic pain and infertility. METHOD & OUTCOME MEASURES: A systematic review of the literature was carried out using the databases Pubmed, Scopus, Cochrane and ClinicalTrials.gov in women with a confirmed laparoscopic diagnosis of endometriosis receiving progestins to determine a reduction in pain symptoms and the occurrence of adverse effects. RESULTS: Eighteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. Progestins improved painful symptoms compared to placebo (SMD = −0.61, 95% CI (−0.77, −0.45), P < 0.00001) with no comparable differences between the type of progestin. After median study durations of 6–12 months, the median discontinuation rate due to adverse effects was 0.3% (range: 0 − 37.1%) with mild adverse effects reported. CONCLUSION: The meta-analysis revealed that pain improvement significantly increased with the use of progestins with low adverse effects. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42021285026. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12905-022-02122-0.