BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment has modest efficacy for the treatment of infertility associated with early-stage endometriosis. Immunomodulation with pentoxifylline is considered as a new strategy potentially useful in treating endometriosis. Thus, this study investigated the usefulness of combined laparoscopic surgery and pentoxifylline therapy in the treatment of infertility associated with minimal to mild endometriosis. METHODS: A prospective, randomized, controlled blind trial was conducted. Patients entered the study immediately after laparoscopic surgery and were randomly assigned to the treatment with either oral pentoxifylline (800 mg/day) (pentoxifylline group, n = 51) or an oral placebo (placebo group, n = 53). Patients were then observed for pregnancy for 6 months. RESULTS: Among 98 patients finally considered in the evaluation of the results, the 6 month overall pregnancy rates were 28 and 14% in the pentoxifylline and placebo groups, respectively. Thus, an absolute difference of 14% (95% CI -2 to 30) (Chi-squared test, P = 0.1) in the cumulative probability of pregnancy in 6 months after laparoscopic surgery in patients receiving pentoxifylline versus placebo post-operatively was observed. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide preliminary clinical evidence to suggest the new experimental treatment approaches, toward endometriosis, that are based on immunomodulation deserve further attention. Well-designed multicenter trials are warranted to confirm or refute our results.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment has modest efficacy for the treatment of infertility associated with early-stage endometriosis. Immunomodulation with pentoxifylline is considered as a new strategy potentially useful in treating endometriosis. Thus, this study investigated the usefulness of combined laparoscopic surgery and pentoxifylline therapy in the treatment of infertility associated with minimal to mild endometriosis. METHODS: A prospective, randomized, controlled blind trial was conducted. Patients entered the study immediately after laparoscopic surgery and were randomly assigned to the treatment with either oral pentoxifylline (800 mg/day) (pentoxifylline group, n = 51) or an oral placebo (placebo group, n = 53). Patients were then observed for pregnancy for 6 months. RESULTS: Among 98 patients finally considered in the evaluation of the results, the 6 month overall pregnancy rates were 28 and 14% in the pentoxifylline and placebo groups, respectively. Thus, an absolute difference of 14% (95% CI -2 to 30) (Chi-squared test, P = 0.1) in the cumulative probability of pregnancy in 6 months after laparoscopic surgery in patients receiving pentoxifylline versus placebo post-operatively was observed. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide preliminary clinical evidence to suggest the new experimental treatment approaches, toward endometriosis, that are based on immunomodulation deserve further attention. Well-designed multicenter trials are warranted to confirm or refute our results.
Authors: Sun-Wei Guo; Lone Hummelshoj; David L Olive; Serdar E Bulun; Thomas M D'Hooghe; Johannes L H Evers Journal: Hum Reprod Date: 2009-03-04 Impact factor: 6.918
Authors: Rosa B Gutarra-Vilchez; Xavier Bonfill Cosp; Demián Glujovsky; Andres Viteri-García; Fernando M Runzer-Colmenares; Maria José Martinez-Zapata Journal: Cochrane Database Syst Rev Date: 2018-10-12
Authors: Leticia Muñoz-Hernando; Jose L Muñoz-Gonzalez; Laura Marqueta-Marques; Carmen Alvarez-Conejo; Álvaro Tejerizo-García; Gregorio Lopez-Gonzalez; Emilia Villegas-Muñoz; Angel Martin-Jimenez; Jesús S Jiménez-López Journal: Int J Womens Health Date: 2015-06-11
Authors: Gabriella Zito; Stefania Luppi; Elena Giolo; Monica Martinelli; Irene Venturin; Giovanni Di Lorenzo; Giuseppe Ricci Journal: Biomed Res Int Date: 2014-08-07 Impact factor: 3.411