Jie Liu

and 5 more

Objective: To investigate whether hormone treatments following hysteroscopic resection of endometrial polyps can further effectively alleviate clinical symptoms and enhance reproductive outcomes and to analyze the factors that influence successful conception in such cases. Design: A large-scale, single-center, retrospective cohort study was conducted in the Day Surgery Department of a tertiary teaching hospital. Setting: The study included pre-menopausal women aged 18-55 with endometrial polyps who underwent hysteroscopic polypectomy. Following the procedure, patients were prescribed oral progesterone/dydrogesterone, combined oral contraceptives, a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system, or received no postoperative medication. Population: A total of 1021 patients were enrolled in the study. Methods: Data were collected and analyzed using SPSS Statistics 26.0 software. Main Outcome Measures: Data including postoperative menstrual status and reproductive outcomes. Results: Among 1021 patients, 222 individuals received either progesterone or dydrogesterone following hysteroscopy, 173 received combined oral contraceptives, 84 were fitted with a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system, and 542 did not receive any postoperative medication. Most patients in the progesterone group (94.6%) and the combined oral contraceptives group (83.8%) received short-term drug treatment within 3 months after the hysteroscopic polypectomy. Prior to treatment, 696 patients (68.2%) had experienced abnormal uterine bleeding. The percentage of patients with resolved abnormal uterine bleeding symptoms post-operation was 78.2% in the progesterone group, 70.2% in the combined oral contraceptives group, 22.2% in the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system group, and 73.4% in the no-medication group. There was no significant difference among the progesterone group, combined oral contraceptives group and no-medication group (p>0.05). Despite having the lowest rate of relief for abnormal uterine bleeding (p=0.000), levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system exhibited the highest rate of normal endometrial ultrasound images during follow-up (p=0.001). Out of the 300 participants aiming to conceive, a successful pregnancy was achieved by 78.3%. The success rates of pregnancy were higher in both the progesterone group (82.9%) and the combined oral contraceptives group (85.0%) compared to the no-medication group (74.7%). However, statistical analysis revealed no significant difference (p=0.179) among the groups. Increasing age (OR 1.153, 95% CI 1.078-1.234, p=0.000), persistent abnormal uterine bleeding (OR 5.742, 95% CI 2.269-14.531, p=0.000), and reduced menstrual volume after treatment (OR 3.810, 95% CI 1.398-10.383, p=0.009) identified as unfavorable factors for successful pregnancy. Conclusions: Adding short-term combined oral contraceptive or progesterone after hysteroscopy does not significantly increase the long-term remission of abnormal uterine bleeding symptoms or the pregnancy rates compared to hysteroscopy alone. The LNG-IUS seems to be most beneficial in preventing the postoperative recurrence of EPs. Funding: None. Keywords: Endometrial polyps, Hysteroscopic polypectomy, Abnormal uterine bleeding, Pregnancy, Hormone medication