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The Impact of Bariatric Surgery Compared to Metformin Therapy on Pregnancy Outcomes in Patients with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Chang C, Chang S, Poles J, Popov V

Journal of gastrointestinal surgery : official journal of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, 2021

587 participants

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a leading cause of infertility among women of reproductive age. The interplay between hyperinsulinemia and obesity results in many of the reproductive and hormonal changes seen in PCOS including abnormal menses, infertility, and pregnancy loss. While bariatric surgery has been found to be an effective treatment strategy for morbid obesity, its role in the management of PCOS-related infertility compared to standard therapy (metformin) is less clear.

AIMS: To assess the impact of bariatric surgery on pregnancy outcomes in women with PCOS compared to metformin therapy in a systematic review and meta-analysis.

METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, and Google Scholar were searched from inception to August 2019. Studies that reported quantitative data on pregnancy outcomes on women of reproductive age with PCOS with at least a 3-month follow-up and a minimum of 5 or more sample size were included. The primary outcome was pregnancy rate, expressed as an event rate and 95% confidence interval (95% CI).

RESULTS: Ten studies with a total of 587 patients were included in the final analyses (Metformin: 5 studies, n = 192; Bariatric surgery (BS): 5 studies (2 Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, 2 sleeve gastrectomy, 1 Roux-en-Y gastric bypass + sleeve gastrectomy), n = 186). The average time to follow-up was 18.25 months (range 3-36) with a shorter time to follow-up in the metformin group compared to the bariatric surgery group (Metformin: 11.2 vs BS:…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a meta-analysis, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 587 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

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