Dose Adjusted vs. Fixed Dose Unilateral Laparoscopic Ovarian Drilling in PCOS Patients

Overview

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder and a leading cause of infertility in women of reproductive age affecting up to 20% of them. Laparoscopic ovarian drilling (LOD) is considered a second-line treatment of infertile patients with clomiphene citrate-resistant (CCR) PCOS i.e. those who did not ovulate in response to CC doses of up to 150 mg for at least three consecutive cycles. The advantage of LOD is the induction of unifollicular ovulation without the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome or high-order multiple pregnancies. The common practice of LOD was to drill both ovaries i.e. bilateral (BLOD) with a fixed dose of 600 Joules per each ovary (1200 Joules in both) delivered through four punctures, each for 4 s and using 40 W. However, its main adverse effect is diminished ovary reserve due to tissue damage (2). In 1994, Balen and Jacobs reported the effectiveness of fixed-dose unilateral LOD (ULOD) in the management of those women. Subsequently, several randomized trials demonstrated its efficacy with comparable ovulation and pregnancy rates to BLOD. Recently, a new concept called"dose-adjusted" ULOD was proposed. It means to tailor the energy applied to one ovary, according to its preoperative volume using 60 J/ cm3. When compared with the fixed-dose BLOD among 96 infertile women with CCR- PCOS, a significantly higher ovulation rate during the first postoperative menstrual cycle was in favor of the ULOD group (73 vs. 49%). Meanwhile, a comparable ovulation rate over the 6-month period was found (82 vs. 64%) (6). In addition, both groups experienced a reduction in serum anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) level after LOD which was significantly more in the BLOD group in the first and the 6-month follow-up periods. However, another RCT (n=108 CCR- PCOS patients) reported a comparable ovulation and pregnancy rates at 3-month follow-up period (65.4 vs. 77.3% and 15.4 vs. 26.4%, in ULOD and BLOD respectively) with a reduction in the effectiveness of dose-adjusted ULOD after 6 months. A highly significant difference between ULOD and BLOD groups with regard to the AMH level at 3- and 6-month was also reported. Thereby, the efficacy of dose-adjusted ULOD in improving fertility outcomes in infertile women with CCR- PCOS as well as its effect on ovarian reserve warrants more investigation.