Four trials (515 patients) were included. All trials except one (which failed only on the absence of intention-to-treat analysis) met all the Delphi criteria. Pooled results are presented; other results (including those for intra-procedural outcomes) were reported in the paper.
Statistically significant results in favour of uterine artery embolization were reported for early procedural results: need for blood transfusion (OR 0.05, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.42; two trials, Ι²=0%), length of hospital stay (WMD -3.27, 95% CI -3.77 to -2.77; two trials, Ι²=56%) and pain during the first 24 hours (WMD -1.47, 95% CI -2.15 to -0.78; two trials, Ι²=0%). There was no statistically significant difference between uterine artery embolization and surgery for early postprocedural complications (two trials, Ι²=82%).
For late post-procedural results, a statistically significant higher rate of readmission (between 30 days and six months) was reported for the uterine artery embolization group (OR 6.00, 95% CI 1.14 to 31.53; two trials, Ι²=63%). There was no difference between groups for unscheduled visits (two trials, Ι²= 0%).
At follow-up (six months), serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels were similar between groups (two trials, Ι²=61%). At one year follow-up, there were statistically more re-interventions in the uterine artery embolization group (OR 5.78, 95% CI 2.14 to 15.58; two trials, Ι²=9%). There were no statistically significant differences between groups for serum FSH levels (two trials, Ι²=0%) and HRQOL (two trials, Ι²=0%) at one year follow-up and there were no difference on any measure at two years.
At five years, uterine artery embolization was associated with significantly more re-interventions than surgery (OR 5.41, 95% CI 2.48 to 11.81; two trials, Ι²=61%).